Contemporary Issues in Sustainable Finance: Banks, Instruments, and the Role of Women (Palgrave Studies in Impact Finance)

This book showcases cutting-edge research on a variety of themes related to sustainable and impact investments. It sheds light, theoretically and empirically, on three particular contemporary challenges for sustainable finance: shifts in banking towards prioritizing sustainable growth, the rapid evolution of sustainable bonds, and the growing role of women in sustainable finance. The first section of the book explores the benefits for banks and the financial industry from integrating sustainable finance into their business processes, as well as the role banks play in allocating resources towards a decarbonized economy. Chapters discuss risk reduction and the reputational boost for banks, as well as assessing the impact of new regulation frameworks targeted at sustainable growth. The second part examines sustainable financial products, with a focus on green bonds, and discusses how they can be used for long-term financing for sustainable projects, encourage accountability andtransparency, stimulate market growth, manage risk, and benefit the environment and society more broadly. The final section of the book takes an internal look at sustainable finance and addresses the significant role that women play, helping to develop more creative and practical solutions, serving as role models, and increasing involvement in the financial sector. Combining academic analysis with practical examples from the industry, this book will be useful to students and researchers working in sustainable finance, banking, and financial regulation. About This Book Contents Notes on Contributors List of Figures List of Tables 1 Introduction References Part I Debating ESG Financial Topics 2 Sustainability Literature Orientation: Evidence from Finance Academic Research 1 Introduction 2 Literature Review 3 Methodology 3.1 Sample Selection 3.2 Data Preprocessing 3.3 Number of Topics k 4 Results and Discussion 4.1 Topics’ Discussion 4.2 Topics’ Evolution 4.3 What’s Next? 5 Conclusions References 3 First Assessment of EU Taxonomy Regulation for Italian Financial Firms 1 Introduction 2 Taxonomy and Non-financial Disclosure: The European Regulatory Framework 3 Literature Review 4 The Taxonomy in Italy: A Qualitative Analysis 4.1 Sample and Data Collection 4.1.1 Credit Institutions 4.1.2 Insurance Companies 4.1.3 Asset Manager 5 Conclusions and Future Implications References 4 Sustainable Finance: A Quest for Value from ICO 1 Introduction 2 ICO’s Sustainability Police 2.1 Objective 2.2 ICO’s Mission 2.3 Commitment to Sustainability 2.3.1 Responsible Lending Statement 2.3.2 Exclusion of Activities 2.3.3 ICO and Its Commitment to SMEs: Financing, Awareness and Alignment 2.3.4 Commitment to Sustainable Development of Financial Markets 2.4 ICO’s Commitment to Its Employees 2.5 Good Governance and Transparency 2.5.1 Corporate Governance and Compliance 2.5.2 Responsible Public Procurement 2.5.3 Internal Management 2.5.4 Communication and Transparency 2.6 Scope, Coverage and Revision 2.7 Axis Sustainability Approach 3 ICO’s Participation in National and International Sustainable Initiatives 3.1 National Initiatives 3.1.1 ICO’s Foundation 3.2 International Initiatives 3.2.1 Invest EU’s Sustainability Proofing Expert Group 4 ICO’s Green Bonds 4.1 Rationale for ICO Green Bond Framework 4.2 Use of Proceeds 4.3 Alignment of the Use of Proceeds with the UN SDGs 4.4 Process for Project Evaluation and Selection 4.5 Management of Proceeds 4.6 Reporting 4.7 Allocation Reporting 4.8 Impact Reporting 4.9 External Review 5 ICO’s Social Bonds 5.1 Issues with a Positive Social and Environmental Impact 6 Conclusions References Part II ESG Instruments and Sectors 5 A Bibliometric Analysis of Sustainable Finance 1 Introduction 2 Materials and Methods 2.1 The Protocol 3 Results and Discussion 3.1 Publication Years 3.2 Author(s)’ Analysis 3.3 The Most Important Articles 3.4 Keywords Analysis 3.4.1 Source Analysis 3.4.2 Country Analysis 4 Conclusion References 6 Exploring the Shades of Green Premium: A Matching Approach 1 Introduction 2 Literature Review 3 Data and Methodology 4 Results and Discussion 5 Conclusions References 7 Sustainable Finance for Maritime Development: A Critical Analysis of Green Bonds in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan 1 Introduction 2 Theoretical Framework and Systematic Literature Review 2.1 Sustainable Finance 2.2 Maritime Sector 2.3 Utilities and Limitations to the Application of Cold Ironing 3 Materials and Methods 4 Discussion and Conclusion References Part III Governance and the Role of Women 8 Are Women the Panacea? Exploring the Direction of Socially Responsible Commitment 1 Introduction 2 Literature Review and Hypotheses Development 3 Data and Methodology 4 Results and Discussion 5 Conclusions References 9 Social Sustainability in Equity Crowdfunding: The Role of Women in the Platforms’ Boards 1 Introduction and Aim of the Research 2 Data and Methodology 3 Results 4 Conclusion References Index This book showcases cutting-edge research on a variety of themes related to sustainable and impact investments. It sheds light, theoretically and empirically, on three particular contemporary challenges for sustainable shifts in banking towards prioritizing sustainable growth, the rapid evolution of sustainable bonds, and the growing role of women in sustainable finance. The first section of the book explores the benefits for banks and the financial industry from integrating sustainable finance into their business processes, as well as the role banks play in allocating resources towards a decarbonized economy. Chapters discuss risk reduction and the reputational boost for banks, as well as assessing the impact of new regulation frameworks targeted at sustainable growth. The second part examines sustainable financial products, with a focus on green bonds, and discusses how they can be used for long-term financing for sustainable projects, encourage accountability and transparency, stimulate market growth, manage risk, and benefit the environment and society more broadly. The final section of the book takes an internal look at sustainable finance and addresses the significant role that women play, helping to develop more creative and practical solutions, serving as role models, and increasing involvement in the financial sector. Combining academic analysis with practical examples from the industry, this book will be useful to students and researchers working in sustainable finance, banking, and financial regulation.