Reisย Mulita – Canadian Institute of Technology, Rruga “Xhanfize Keko” Nr. 12, Tirana, Albania
Keywords:ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Green finance;
Sustainable development;
Western Balkans
Abstract:
This paper explores the concept of sustainable development and green finance, their importance, and how they are related with a focus on Western Balkans perspectives.
The main hypothesis presented is that green finance has the potential to be a key factor in encouraging sustainable development in the Western Balkans because it can contribute to the development of a more resilient and sustainยญable future for all countries in the region, regardless of their borders or differยญences in culture or identity.
The author uses a qualitative and quality research approach, using a combiยญnation of literature review and empirical data to explore the relationship beยญtween sustainable development and green finance. The literature review will involve a comprehensive literature analysis on sustainable development and green finance, including academic sources, institutional reports, case studยญies, etc. In conclusion, the paper finds that sustainable finance is progressiveยญly gaining prominence in Western Balkan countries, aligning with European and global trends.
9th International Scientific ERAZ Conference โ ERAZ 2023 โ Selected Papers: KNOWLEDGE BASED SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, hybrid โ online, virtually and in person, Prague, Czech Republic, June 1, 2023
ERAZ Selected Papers published by: Association of Economists and Managers of the Balkans – Belgrade, Serbia
ERAZ conference partners: Faculty of Logistics, University of Maribor, Maribor (Slovenia); University of National and World Economy โ UNWE, Sofia (Bulgaria); Center for Political Research and Documentation (KEPET), Research Laboratory of the Department of Political Science of University of Crete (Greece); Institute of Public Finance โ Zagreb (Croatia); Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Ohrid, University of St. Kliment Ohridski from Bitola (North Macedonia)
ERAZ Conference 2023 Selected Papers: ISBN 978-86-80194-73-8, ISSN 2683-5568, DOI: https://doi.org/10.31410/ERAZ.S.P.2023
Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission.ย
Suggested citation
Mulita, R. (2023). Green Finance for Sustainable Development in the Western Balkans. In V. Bevanda (Ed.), ERAZ Conference – Knowlegde Based Sustainable Development: Vol 9. Selected Papers (pp. 33-41). Association of Economists and Managers of the Balkans. https://doi.org/10.31410/ERAZ.S.P.2023.33
References
Aldowaish, A., Kokuryo, J., Almazyad, O., & Goi, H. C. (2022). Environmental, Social, and Governance Integration into the Business Model: Literature Review and Research Agenยญda. Sustainability, 14(5), 2959. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14052959
Baker, S., Bosworth, R., & Fankhauser, S. (2018). Green finance: mobilizing investment in susยญtainable infrastructure. Routledge.
Balkan Green Energy News. (2021). https://balkangreenenergynews.com/eib-provides-eur-120-million-for-renewable-energy-projects-in-the-western-balkans
Berg, A., Botzen, W. J., Brรผgger, B., & Aaheim, A. (2019). Green finance and sustainability: challenges and opportunities. Journal of Cleaner Production, 234, 1025-1033.
Bocken, N., Hultink, E. J., & Kraaijenhagen, C. (2021). The transition to sustainable business models: A review and future research agenda. Journal of Cleaner Production, 298, 126721.
Climate Bonds Initiative. (2021). Green bond market summary 2020. https://www.climateยญbonds.net/resources/reports/green-bond-market-summary-2020
COM. (2020). Western Balkans: Green Agenda for the Western Balkans. Retrieved from https://ec.europa.eu/neighbourhood-enlargement/sites/default/files/20200708-ga-wb.pdf
EBRD. (2020). Western Balkans Sustainable Energy Direct Financing Facility. Retrieved from https://www.ebrd.com/work-with-us/projects/psd/western-balkans-sustainable-energy-diยญrect-financing-facility.html
EBRD. (2021). Green finance in the Western Balkans. Retrieved from https://www.ebrd.com/news/2021/green-finance-in-the-western-balkans.html
EEA. (2020). https://www.eea.europa.eu/en
EIB. (2020). The Role of Green Finance in Supporting Sustainable Development in the Western Balkans. Retrieved from https://www.eib.org/attachments/documents/the_role_of_green_ finance_in_supporting_sustainable_development_in_the_western_balkans_en.pdf
EIB. (2021). Green finance in the Western Balkans. https://www.eib.org/en/publications/green-finance-western-balkans
European Central Bank. (2021). Sustainable finance in the euro area. Retrieved from https://www.ecb.europa.eu/paym/intro/publications/html/ecb.sp210115~f6d20a8547.en.html
European Commission. (2018). Action Plan on Sustainable Finance. Retrieved from https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52018DC0097
European Commission. (2021). Sustainable finance. Retrieved from https://ec.europa.eu/info/publications/sustainable-finance_en
European Investment Bank. (2021). The EUโs Green Deal. Retrieved from https://www.eib.org/en/publications/the-eus-green-deal
European Parliament. (2020). Taxonomy Regulation: Environmental sustainability of economยญic activities. Retrieved from https://www.europarl.europa.eu/legislative-train/theme-a-balยญanced-and-sustainable-europe/file-taxonomy-regulation-environmental-sustainabiliยญty-of-economic-activities
European Parliament. (2021). The EUโs sustainable finance taxonomy. Retrieved from https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2021/655854/IPOL_BRI(2021)655854_EN.pdf
Gao, Y., Xu, D., & Zhang, L. (2021). Green finance, green technology, and sustainable developยญment: Empirical evidence from China. Journal of Cleaner Production, 315, 128287.
IPCC. (2021). Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Workยญing Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press. https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1
Jones, S., & Lee, M. (2019). Renewable energy investment and sustainable development: Eviยญdence from emerging markets. Sustainable Development, 27(1), 1-12.
Kovacevic, V., & Radovic-Markovic, M. (2021). Green finance in Western Balkan countries. Sustainability, 13(3), 1018. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13031018
NASA. (2021). Global Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet. Retrieved from https://climate.nasa.gov
NOAA. (2021). Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters: Overview. https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/billions
OECD. (2020). Sustainable finance: policy and practice. OECD Publishing.
RCC. (2021). https://www.rcc.int/balkanbarometer/#gallery-
RCC. (2022). https://www.rcc.int/balkanbarometer/#gallery-
Regional Cooperation Council. (2021). Sustainable Finance in the Western Balยญkans: A Regulatory Framework. Retrieved from https://www.rcc.int/pubs/1157/sustainable-finance-in-the-western-balkans-a-regulatory-framework
Smith, J. (2020). The role of green finance in sustainable development. Journal of Sustainable Finance & Investment, 10(1), 11-22.
UN. (1992). United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, Braยญzil, 3-14 June 1992. https://www.un.org/en/conferences/environment/rio1992
UN. (2015). Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. https://documentsddsny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N15/291/89/PDF/N1529189.pdf?OpenEleยญmenthttps://sdgs.un.org/2030agenda
UNEP. (2018a). The business case for sustainable finance. Retrieved from https://www.unepfi.org/publications/the-business-case-for-sustainable-financeย
UNEP. (2018b). Green finance progress report. United Nations Environment Program.
UNEP. (2018c). Positive Impact Manifesto: Integrating the SDGs into Finance. Retrieved from https://www.unepfi.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Positive-Impact-Manifesยญto.pdf
UNEP. (2021a). Principles for Responsible Banking. Retrieved from https://www.unepfi.org/banking/bankingprinciplesย
UNEP. (2021b). What is sustainable finance? Retrieved from https://www.unepfi.org/sustainable-finance/what-is-sustainable-financeย
UNFCCC. (2015). Adoption of the Paris Agreement. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Western Balkans Digital Summit. (2023). https://neighbourhood-enlargement.ec.europa.eu/news/launching-digital-development-hub-western-balkans-2023-10-05_enย
WHO. (2021). Air pollution. https://www.who.int/health-topics/air-pollution#tab=tab_1ย
World Bank. (2019). Western Balkans: Fostering sustainable and inclusive growth. World Bank Group. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/31399ย
World Bank. (2020). Green infrastructure: Creating jobs, driving economic growth, and delivยญering benefits for people and planet. World Bank Group.
WRI. (2021). What happened to the worldโs forests in 2021? https://www.wri.org/events/2022/04/tree-cover-loss-in-2021ย
Zhang, X., Wu, W., & Bu, M. (2020). Green bonds, environmental externalities and sustainable development. Finance Research Letters, 35, 101501.