Sustainable finance: the European Union’s approach to increasing sustainable investments and growth – opportunities and challenges

Abstract

Summary: The article provides an overview of the most important current EU initiatives contributing to sustainable finance. After an introduction on how the concept of sustainability entered the domain of European policy, the definition of sustainable finance from the EU perspective is discussed, as well as its relationship to the concept of green finance. After outlining the need for sustainable finance to achieve EU and international policy goals, the article provides a discussion of sustainable finance from a theoretical perspective, taking into account already existing perspectives from literature. A brief overview is given of what the EU could theoretically do to foster sustainable finance. The article then proceeds with an overview of the most important existing EU initiatives to foster sustainable finance: the Action Plan on financing sustainable growth adopted in March 2018, the EU Emissions Trading System and EU financial support contributing to sustainable finance. Finally, the article provides a discussion of the challenges and political implications of current sustainable finance policies for the EU, followed by conclusions.