Environmental finance: an interdisciplinary review

Hu Tao; Shan Zhuang; Rui Xue; Wei Cao; Jinfang Tian; Yuli Shan

doi:10.1016/j.techfore.2022.121639

Environmental finance: an interdisciplinary review

Hu Tao, Shan Zhuang, Rui Xue, Wei Cao, Jinfang Tian, Yuli Shan^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

45 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Environmental finance has gained considerable attention globally as an emerging interdisciplinary research area. This study uses bibliometric analysis to systematically review major studies on environmental finance-related areas published since the 1970s. Through a bibliometric analysis of 892 environmental finance-related articles sourced from the Web of Science database, we identified the main research streams and illustrated the trending research themes of environmental finance. We find that publications related to environmental finance have increased exponentially over the past decade. Current research streams include corporate and social responsibility (CSR), climate negotiations, natural gas price volatility, national policy, and cost comparisons. Further analysis of the recent five years of literature shows that emerging research topics include climate finance, sustainable finance, firm value, climate risk, and green bonds. Finally, we conclude with a future research agenda for environmental finance.

Original language	English
Article number	121639
Number of pages	17
Journal	Technological Forecasting and Social Change
Volume	179
Early online date	31 Mar 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2022.121639
Publication status	Published - Jun 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
To fix this deficit, policymakers worldwide are experimenting with various financing models ( Cui et al., 2021 ). The global climate financing model has evolved from government-or public-funded to privately funded. Government or public funding is the basic financing method for infrastructure investments ( Engel et al., 2013 ). Multilateral climate funds, such as the Global Environment Facility (GEF), Adaptation Fund (AF), Climate Investment Funds (CIFs), and Green Climate Fund (GCF), are major public financing instruments. The sources of these funds include donations from countries, debt financing, equity financing, and proceeds from projects. For example, GEF acquires funds primarily through donations (GEF, 2021), and AF is largely supported by the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project.

Green bonds are issued to fund environmental projects and help achieve the sustainable development goals (SDG 7 and 13 9 9 ) proposed by the United Nations. The International Capital Market Association (2018) released the “Green Bond Principles”, which explicitly define projects eligible for funding through green bonds. It specifies that green projects include, but are not limited to, renewable energy initiatives, pollution prevention, sustainable environmental management, biodiversity protection, and clean transportation. Since the launch of green bonds in 2007, the global green bond market has expanded exponentially ( Tolliver et al., 2020 ), setting off a “Green Bond Boom” worldwide ( MorganStanley, 2017 ).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s)

Keywords

Bibliometric analysis
CiteSpace
Environmental finance
Interdisciplinary research
Research agenda

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Business and International Management
Applied Psychology
Management of Technology and Innovation

Access to Document

10.1016/j.techfore.2022.121639Licence: Creative Commons: Attribution (CC BY)

TaoH2022EnvironmentalFinal published version, 2.08 MBLicence: Creative Commons: Attribution (CC BY)

Cite this

@article{661742aa0e6a4f238f94d824a9e6ac26,

title = "Environmental finance: an interdisciplinary review",

abstract = "Environmental finance has gained considerable attention globally as an emerging interdisciplinary research area. This study uses bibliometric analysis to systematically review major studies on environmental finance-related areas published since the 1970s. Through a bibliometric analysis of 892 environmental finance-related articles sourced from the Web of Science database, we identified the main research streams and illustrated the trending research themes of environmental finance. We find that publications related to environmental finance have increased exponentially over the past decade. Current research streams include corporate and social responsibility (CSR), climate negotiations, natural gas price volatility, national policy, and cost comparisons. Further analysis of the recent five years of literature shows that emerging research topics include climate finance, sustainable finance, firm value, climate risk, and green bonds. Finally, we conclude with a future research agenda for environmental finance.",

keywords = "Bibliometric analysis, CiteSpace, Environmental finance, Interdisciplinary research, Research agenda",

author = "Hu Tao and Shan Zhuang and Rui Xue and Wei Cao and Jinfang Tian and Yuli Shan",

note = "Funding Information: To fix this deficit, policymakers worldwide are experimenting with various financing models ( Cui et al., 2021 ). The global climate financing model has evolved from government-or public-funded to privately funded. Government or public funding is the basic financing method for infrastructure investments ( Engel et al., 2013 ). Multilateral climate funds, such as the Global Environment Facility (GEF), Adaptation Fund (AF), Climate Investment Funds (CIFs), and Green Climate Fund (GCF), are major public financing instruments. The sources of these funds include donations from countries, debt financing, equity financing, and proceeds from projects. For example, GEF acquires funds primarily through donations (GEF, 2021), and AF is largely supported by the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project. Green bonds are issued to fund environmental projects and help achieve the sustainable development goals (SDG 7 and 13 9 9 ) proposed by the United Nations. The International Capital Market Association (2018) released the “Green Bond Principles”, which explicitly define projects eligible for funding through green bonds. It specifies that green projects include, but are not limited to, renewable energy initiatives, pollution prevention, sustainable environmental management, biodiversity protection, and clean transportation. Since the launch of green bonds in 2007, the global green bond market has expanded exponentially ( Tolliver et al., 2020 ), setting off a “Green Bond Boom” worldwide ( MorganStanley, 2017 ). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 The Author(s)",

year = "2022",

month = jun,

doi = "10.1016/j.techfore.2022.121639",

language = "English",

volume = "179",

journal = "Technological Forecasting and Social Change",

issn = "0040-1625",

publisher = "Elsevier",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Environmental finance

T2 - an interdisciplinary review

AU - Tao, Hu

AU - Zhuang, Shan

AU - Xue, Rui

AU - Cao, Wei

AU - Tian, Jinfang

AU - Shan, Yuli

N1 - Funding Information: To fix this deficit, policymakers worldwide are experimenting with various financing models ( Cui et al., 2021 ). The global climate financing model has evolved from government-or public-funded to privately funded. Government or public funding is the basic financing method for infrastructure investments ( Engel et al., 2013 ). Multilateral climate funds, such as the Global Environment Facility (GEF), Adaptation Fund (AF), Climate Investment Funds (CIFs), and Green Climate Fund (GCF), are major public financing instruments. The sources of these funds include donations from countries, debt financing, equity financing, and proceeds from projects. For example, GEF acquires funds primarily through donations (GEF, 2021), and AF is largely supported by the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project. Green bonds are issued to fund environmental projects and help achieve the sustainable development goals (SDG 7 and 13 9 9 ) proposed by the United Nations. The International Capital Market Association (2018) released the “Green Bond Principles”, which explicitly define projects eligible for funding through green bonds. It specifies that green projects include, but are not limited to, renewable energy initiatives, pollution prevention, sustainable environmental management, biodiversity protection, and clean transportation. Since the launch of green bonds in 2007, the global green bond market has expanded exponentially ( Tolliver et al., 2020 ), setting off a “Green Bond Boom” worldwide ( MorganStanley, 2017 ). Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s)

PY - 2022/6

Y1 - 2022/6

N2 - Environmental finance has gained considerable attention globally as an emerging interdisciplinary research area. This study uses bibliometric analysis to systematically review major studies on environmental finance-related areas published since the 1970s. Through a bibliometric analysis of 892 environmental finance-related articles sourced from the Web of Science database, we identified the main research streams and illustrated the trending research themes of environmental finance. We find that publications related to environmental finance have increased exponentially over the past decade. Current research streams include corporate and social responsibility (CSR), climate negotiations, natural gas price volatility, national policy, and cost comparisons. Further analysis of the recent five years of literature shows that emerging research topics include climate finance, sustainable finance, firm value, climate risk, and green bonds. Finally, we conclude with a future research agenda for environmental finance.

AB - Environmental finance has gained considerable attention globally as an emerging interdisciplinary research area. This study uses bibliometric analysis to systematically review major studies on environmental finance-related areas published since the 1970s. Through a bibliometric analysis of 892 environmental finance-related articles sourced from the Web of Science database, we identified the main research streams and illustrated the trending research themes of environmental finance. We find that publications related to environmental finance have increased exponentially over the past decade. Current research streams include corporate and social responsibility (CSR), climate negotiations, natural gas price volatility, national policy, and cost comparisons. Further analysis of the recent five years of literature shows that emerging research topics include climate finance, sustainable finance, firm value, climate risk, and green bonds. Finally, we conclude with a future research agenda for environmental finance.

KW - Bibliometric analysis

KW - CiteSpace

KW - Environmental finance

KW - Interdisciplinary research

KW - Research agenda

U2 - 10.1016/j.techfore.2022.121639

DO - 10.1016/j.techfore.2022.121639

M3 - Article

SN - 0040-1625

VL - 179

JO - Technological Forecasting and Social Change

JF - Technological Forecasting and Social Change

M1 - 121639

ER -

Environmental finance: an interdisciplinary review

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Cite this