A literature review showed that finance is a driver of sustainability. However, to achieve sustainability through finance, it is necessary to rebuild and adapt the financial system to the specifics of sustainable development. Modern financial systems can be described as one-dimensional, focusing on ensuring the economic security of transactions. Meanwhile, the growing role of risk related to non-financial factors means that the factors referred to as ESG (environmental, social, governance) become the main source threatening the stability of financial systems. Adaptation activities toward the design of so-called three-dimensional financial systems rely on incorporating ESG risk into the financial decisions of the financial institutions that make up the financial system. This is found, among other factors, in the risk assessment methodology. The general goal of the paper is to investigate which ESG criteria are incorporated into the decision-making process of financial institutions and to verify the level of sustainability of financial systems in selected OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries. The main research hypothesis assumes that incorporating ESG factors into the decision-making process of financial institutions makes financial systems more sustainable. A two-stage research procedure was used to achieve the research goal. In the first stage, to determine the ESG factors that affect the level of sustainability of financial systems and identify dependencies between ESG factors incorporated by financial institutions into the decision-making process, a fuzzy cognitive map (FCM) was used. The collective map elaborating on the basis of the opinions of experts participating in the study was built using the software FCMapper_bugfix_27.1.2016. In the second stage, based on multiple-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) using the PROMETHEE method (Preference Ranking Organization Method of Enrichment Evaluation), 23 OECD countries that respect the Equator Principles were ranked according to seven groups of criteria defined for financial system assessment (financial depth, development, vulnerability, soundness, fragility, stability, and sustainability), based on a literature review. The ranking confirmed the strong position of Scandinavian countries for assuring best sustainability practices in financial institutions and in the economy. The added value of this paper can be considered at two levels: theoretical and empirical. From the theoretical point of view, it should be noted that it is the first of this kind of analysis which prioritizes ESG factors in financial decisions and ranks financial systems according to fulfilling sustainability criteria. The original empirical approach based on the two-stage research procedure provided analysis of 62 factors, of which 21 represented the environmental scope, 25 the social scope, and 16 the governance scope, which is the main advantage of the empirical study presented in the paper.

From an economic viewpoint, tourism is heralded as bringing income to local communities. From an ecological standpoint, tourism poses a threat to environments. Sustainable tourism should leave a minimum negative impact on the places visited and preferably have rather positive impact on society. The digitization of the tourism economy is conducive to increasing the efficiency of enterprises operations, but also have positive impact on consumers. The objectives of the study are: to seek an answer to the question whether there is a relationship between the development of the tourism industry and GDP growth. Based on it there are two specific questions: What is a relationship between the level of development of digitization (e-commerce) and the development of the tourism industry and what is a relationship between the development of the tourism industry and sustainability factors? The originality of our research results among others results from three groups of variables use in the analysis (ICT group, SDG group and E&T group). Our research explores the factors affecting the tourism industry and relations of the digitization of tourism economy, sustainability and economy growth.

The striving for sustainable development has become the goal of actions undertaken not only by representatives of public authorities and institutions representing this sector, but also representatives of private entities who are increasingly recognizing the benefits and sources of long-term development based on the principles and objectives of sustainable development. These are mainly based on the pursuit of synergy in the three basic areas of activities, i.e., in the economic, social, and environmental dimensions as well as in the maintenance of natural resources. The implementation of these activities is connected with the necessity of incurring financial expenditures, which the government (public sector) does not have in the required value. Therefore, in the process of sustainable development for which the government is responsible, the active participation of the financial sector (banks) is necessary. Achieving results within the alliance of the concept of sustainable development requires the setting of a kind of contract, the parties of which are the government, society, and financial institutions. The purpose of the conducted research is to indicate by which means the government can stimulate economic growth towards its sustainable development.

Introduction:ESG risk and the business sector are essential in the process of adapting business models towards sustainability. The article aims to analyze ESG risk, taking into account these business sectors that are most affected by ESG risk, and to identify the relationship between ESG risk and cooperation models of financial institutions and companies (Anglo-Saxon/German-Japanese). The original research approach was based on including the financial system model in the analysis of ESG risk impact and the companies’ methods of achieving sustainable business models with external funding.Methods:The study is based on a two-stage analysis. First, fuzzy cognitive maps are used to evaluate the strength and direction of the relations between factors included in the companies’ sustainable business models according to the business sectors. At the second stage, a correspondence analysis was carried out to distinguish four groups of companies’ industries characterized by homogenous features related to the business sector, sustainable business model (SBM), and the way to transform to sustainability.Results:Methods of achieving sustainability in companies’ business models differ depending on business sectors. The “financial institution—company” cooperation model and recommendations were proposed.Discussion:Financial institutions play a crucial role in financing the transition into sustainable business models. However, their impact differs depending on the business sector and the model of the financial system (bank or market oriented). The study assumes that the financial system model determines the form of cooperation between financial institutions and companies in the process of financing costs towards sustainability.

In the literature on the subject, it is argued that tax policy is one of the tools stimulating the transition toward sustainable economies. Public authorities can use two functions for this purpose: fiscal and non-fiscal functions. High emission rates and the rising rapid atmospheric changes that come with them are serious threats to the climate and sustainable development. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is one of the goals towards which the world strives (including the EU), so as to keep a balance between people’s expectations, economic aspects, and the needs of the environment. Therefore, it is necessary to explain whether, along with other factors, environmental policy and its component “green taxes” can act as a factor in limiting greenhouse gas emissions. The purpose of this article is to seek an answer to the question of whether “green taxes” as an instrument of tax policy are a significant factor influencing climate change by contributing to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This article attempts to identify the determinants of greenhouse gas emissions (the dependent variable) using the method of linear regression analysis. Multiple linear regression models are used to predict the value of the dependent variable based on the values of the independent variables (identified from the literature). Trading of CO₂ emissions was not included in the analysis due to lack of data. The regression analysis was carried out using specialized statistical software (SPSS). The authors negatively verified the hypothesis that environmental taxes are a significant determinant of greenhouse gas emission reductions compared to the analyzed determinants. “Population”, “current and capital transfers for environmental protection”, and “supply, transformation and consumption of solid fossil fuels” are the most important factors influencing greenhouse gas emissions. Changing consumer behavior (as an effect of the non-fiscal function of taxes) appears to be an extremely important factor in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Hence, the public authorities should promote behaviors conducive to their reduction by means of incentives, and not mainly taxation of negative behavior or fiscal incentives.