Sustainable investments: evolution, strategies, and contribution to sustainability objectives

Dilyara Salakhova

Chapter 15 in Handbook of Climate Change and Financial Markets, 2026, pp 292-327 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter aims to provide a concise overview of various approaches to align financial flows with sustainability objectives. We further investigate how financial institutions have been able to contribute to the transition to a low-carbon economy. The chapter starts with a historical perspective; it then examines traditional sustainable investment strategies and the economic mechanisms through which investor actions influence firm behavior, as well as the academic evidence regarding the effectiveness of these approaches. It further explores emerging concepts of strategies designed to achieve measurable real-world impact and analyzes current regulatory initiatives intended to shape market practices and mitigate greenwashing. Finally, it focuses on the role of sustainable investments in facilitating the transition to a low-carbon economy, considering relevant metrics for assessing investor contributions and reviewing academic assessments of progress in decarbonizing financial portfolios and the real economy. It concludes by discussing needed changes in the traditional finance paradigm to reach the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement.

Keywords: Sustainable investments; Investment strategies; Investment funds; ESG; Stewardship (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035340415
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.elgaronline.com/doi/10.4337/9781035340422.00024 (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:elg:eechap:23637_15

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.e-elgar.com

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Chapters from Edward Elgar Publishing
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Jack Sweeney ().