The green finance dilemma: No impact without risk – a multiple case study on renewable energy investments

Abstract

<p>Recently, European regulation on sustainability preferences has made green finance a mainstream topic for retail investors. On the contrary, green innovation is largely discussed as bearing risks, and renewable energy projects are sometimes referred to as related to high risk. Our article aimed to shed light on retail investors' risk exposure in green finance. In the literature review, we rarely found the retail investor's risk perspective reflected, and green finance risk in terms of major capital loss was not explicitly stated as a research topic. We aimed to close this gap in the literature and apply a multiple case study approach with cases from the renewable energy sector to analyze the components that nurture green finance risk. For case description, we leveraged publicly available online information such as press articles, financial reporting, mandatory disclosure from the represented company, and pre-contractual information of the financial instruments marketed. Our findings suggest that green finance risk (GFR) is nurtured by risk components from the categories of financial instrument risk (FIR), investee company risk (ICR), and operational risk (OR) of renewable energy projects. The cross-case analysis identified red flags that might alert future investors. Additionally, we suggested measures to mitigate green finance risk and propose regulatory improvements. Our research marks a starting point for future quantitative and qualitative research.</p>