Public savings banks as transformative agents for an eco-social future? Towards a sustainable savings and investment union

Ulrich Klüh, Ilia Naji and Silke Ötsch

No 16, ZNWU Discussion Papers from Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences, Darmstadt Business School, Center for Sustainable Economic and Corporate Policy (SECP)

Abstract: The paper explores whether and how public savings banks can be transformed into meaningful agents of change for a more sustainable financial system. It outlines concrete elements of an ambitious transition program. We take as context the efforts to further integrate European financial markets within the framework of the so-called Savings and Investment Union (SIU). The paper highlights the (potentially productive) tensions between a strategy for sustainable finance that relies on capital markets and an approach that emphasizes the role of organizations, in particular (public) banks and related institutions (regulation). It identifies potential complementarities between the two approaches and emphasizes the role of civil society and unions in reinforcing sustainable development.

Keywords: Savings banks; capital markets; socio-ecological transformation; climate change (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: G18 G2 H77 H81 Q01 Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:znwudp:342498

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