Funding low-carbon transitions to address climate change is one of the major challenges of our time. Green bonds have emerged as a powerful tool to enlist institutional investors’ wealth for these transitions. But despite exponential growth in many parts of the world, the green bond market in South Africa has been stalling. This book project grapples with this puzzle. Firstly, it debunks some of the promises underpinning green bond markets and traces the manifold practices undergirding its promotion. Secondly, it identifies some barriers prohibiting the expansion of green bonds in emerging markets and zooms in on the depoliticizing tendencies a transition premised on financial innovation produces. Thirdly, this work discloses the idiosyncratic political economic challenges of a fossil-based economy in transition and shines a light on the competing elements of a ‘green’ and a ‘just’ transition. It argues that the limited uptake of green bonds can best be explained by the instrument’s inability to adequately incorporate the various demands levied on South Africa’s contested transition trajectory. In so doing, this book contributes important new qualitative insights into green bond markets-in-the-making and extends political economic scholarship on finance-led transition endeavors in emerging markets. Chapters 3 and 6 is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

"This book is a must read to understand the pitfalls of relying solely on financial innovation to solve the climate crisis." (Matthew Paterson, University of Manchester) "...an emphatic call for rethinking finance to advance a just energy transition" Mzukisi Qobo, Wits University) "A truly enlightening and empirically rich account of a green bond market that wasn't...." (Daniel Mertens, University Osnabrück) "...required reading for scholars of just transitions in the Global South." (Daniela Gabor, UWE Bristol) Funding low-carbon transitions to address climate change is one of the major challenges of our time. Green bonds have emerged as a powerful tool to enlist institutional investors' wealth for these transitions. But despite exponential growth in many parts of the world, the green bond market in South Africa has been stalling. This book grapples with this puzzle: It debunks some of the promises underpinning green bond markets globally and traces the manifold practices undergirding its promotion. It then identifies some barriers prohibiting the expansion of green bonds in emerging markets and zooms in on the depoliticizing tendencies a transition premised on financial innovation produces. In the last part, this work discloses the idiosyncratic political economic challenges of a fossil-based economy in transition and shines a light on the competing elements of a 'green' and a 'just' transition. In so doing, this book contributes important new qualitative insights into green bond markets-in-the-making and extends political economic scholarship on finance-led transition endeavors in emerging economies. Chapters 3 and 6 is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com. Manuel Neumann is a Senior Policy Officer at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. He did his PhD at Kassel University and was a visiting scholar at Wits University in Johannesburg in 2018 and 2019. Beforehand, he worked in the development context in Geneva and Kathmandu and studied in London (M.Sc.), New Delhi, and Tübingen (B.Sc.). His research revolves around green financial innovation and the political economy of energy transitions in the global South.

A valuable interdisciplinary resource examining the concept and effectiveness of CSR as a tool for sustainable development in emerging markets.

This book uses the idea of internal cohesion through intra-BRICS cooperation to make the argument that the next phase in the evolution of BRICS is to strengthen cooperation among BRICS countries in the implementation of decisions taken. There is a risk that what the BRICS promises and what it represents both in the eyes of its friends and foes might not materialise in the absence of central institutions. So, the book calls for the deepening intra-BRICS cooperation across all policy areas where there are already undertakings could help mitigate this risk.

Many emerging market countries are bank-based economies and are increasingly affected by geopolitical risks, U.S. dollar dynamics, regulations, preferential trade agreements (PTAs), MNCs (that often function like international organizations), social networks, labor dynamics, cross-border spillovers and the inefficient expansion of formal/informal microfinance. Country risks, informal economies (that account for 20-50 percent of the national economy of many emerging market countries), investor protection, enforcement commitment, compliance costs, sustainability (environmental, social, economic and political sustainability), economic growth, political stability, financial stability, geopolitical risk, social networks, household economics, inequality and international trade outcomes can vary dramatically across many DECs and LDECs due to these phenomena. The COVID-19 pandemic has illustrated the many problems inherent in political systems, economic policy and governments’ emergency powers during pandemics/epidemics and economic/financial crisis. This second volume focuses on geopolitical risks that are intertwined with constitutional political economy and labor issues, alongside addressing some of the financial and constitutional crises that occurred in Europe, Asia and the U.S. during 2007-2020. This book provides analysis of complex systems and the preferences and reasoning of state/government and corporate actors in order to develop better artificial intelligence and decision-system models of geopolitical risk, public policy and international capital flows, all of which are increasingly important decision factors for investment managers, boards-of-directors and government officials.

Combining theory, empirical data, and policy this book provides a fresh analysis of sustainable finance. It explains the sustainability challenges for corporate investment and shows how finance can steer funding to certain companies and projects without sacrificing return, speeding up the transistion to a sustainable economy.

This book is a journey through leading and incredibly diverse emerging markets in a world of shocks and transitions. Tracing the rise of China, the emergence of India, the changing fortunes in Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico, the unique developments in Turkey and Indonesia, the complex geopolitics in Russia and Saudi Arabia, and the challenging post-apartheid transition in South Africa, the study examines their varying prospects in the years to come. Using an innovative analytical approach and rich empirics, the book delves into topics ranging from macroeconomics to human development, institutions to climate change. It provides a strategic roadmap of reform for these economies to escape the middle-income trap. It argues that in a world where advanced economies are defined by slowdown, growing trade blocs, changing demographics, and the rise of renewable technologies, emerging markets will continue to play a significant but complex role in the twenty-first century.

Green finance is heralded in theory and practice as the new panacea – the ideal way to support the green transition of businesses into more sustainable, environmentally responsible forms, by means of incentivized financial investments. This handbook brings together a variety of expert scholars with industry specialists to offer the most authoritative overview of green finance to date, presenting the current situation in the field. It focuses on green finance in a comprehensive way, discussing its characteristics, underlying principles, and mechanisms. The book carefully illuminates the issues surrounding green finance and delineates its boundaries, mapping out and displaying the disparate voices, traditions, and professional communities engaged in green and sustainable finance activities. Specifically, it examines the "environmental" in the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) measurements, while also discussing the interplay between each measurement. It develops a range of analytic approaches to the subject, both appreciative and critical, and synthesizes new theoretical constructs that make better sense of hybrid financial relationships. Furthermore, the handbook illustrates existing best practices and theories, and critically examines the gaps to derive the necessary future research questions. It highlights the essential issues and debates and provides a robust research agenda. As such, it helps to create an effective market for the various green financing instruments through clarification and standardization. This handbook will be the standard reference work for a broad audience, encompassing scholars, researchers, and students but also interested professionals, regulators, and policymakers wishing to orient themselves in a rapidly developing and increasingly topical field.

Zusammenfassung: This is an open access book. Hanoi University of Science and Technology - School of Economics and Management, University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City, University of Economics and Business - Vietnam National University, Hanoi, National Economics University - Faculty of Business and Management, The University of Danang - University of Economics, Vietnam National University - International School, Foreign Trade University, University of Hertfordshire (UK), AVSE Global (France) and PPM School of Management (Indonesia) will organize The 11th International Conference on Emerging Challenges: Smart Business and Digital Economy, Vietnam on November 3-4, 2023. We would like to invite you to be a part of the ICECH2023 and submit your research papers for presentation consideration. The aim of ICECH2023 is to provide a forum for academics and professionals to share research findings, experiences and knowledge for adaptation and business strategy in a post-Covid as well as various uncertainties and complexities in the world in the Asia-Pacific region. We welcome the submissions in Economics, Business, Innovation Management, and Business Law

Sustainable finance has become a key focus area for global investors and policy makers. Last year proved to be a breakout year for emerging markets (EMs), with sustainable debt issuance in 2021 surging to almost $200 billion. This working paper, the first comprehensive study in the literature, analyzes the evoluiton of EM sustainable finance markets, including differences with advanced economies. The analysis shows how sustainable finance in EMs is growing fast not just in aggregate but importantly across many dimensions. The paper also identifies key development areas for EMs and policies to strengthen the resilience of sustainable finance markets.