Climate change is undeniably one of the long-term challenges confronting humanity across the globe. Various nations have taken initiatives that help reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the environment as well as accelerate financial flows to clean and sustainable projects. The paper provides an overview of green finance after the Paris Agreement by adopting a bibliometric analysis of the selected literature. The study reviewed the literature from the Web of Science database between 2015 and 2022. Data cleaning, formatting, and analysis was performed using VOSviewer and R-studio. Our study indicates increased scholarly interest on the issue of green financing. Most scientific research has been published in climate policy and sustainability journals but lacks mainstream interest in economic and finance journals. Based on our results, it is recommended that further studies on green financing be carried out from the economic and financial perspective using quantitative approaches to supplement the existing literature and provide a wider view to policy makers and regulators.

This study investigates the nexus between green financing (GB) and carbon emissions across 29 countries distributed worldwide with full data on green financing measured as the sum of bonds issued for the period 2018–2021. GDP per capita, population, and environmental expenditure (EP) are used as control variables in the study. An interaction term between GB and EP is also included in the study. This study utilized the Panel Robust Fixed Effect Model (PRFEM) to investigate the nexus between green financing and carbon emissions and how EP enhances the effectiveness of green financing in reducing carbon emissions. The study concludes that green finance is effective in reducing carbon emissions; this relationship remains the same regardless of country-specific factors such as the GDP per capita, EP, and population. Increases in environmental protection (EP) expenditure promote the effectiveness of green financing in reducing carbon emissions. This study recommends policies that promote the green transition including tax exemptions for investors in green bonds, the enactment of rules and regulations that require companies and institutions to provide information about their green projects, and lastly, the establishment of standards that help in measuring the impacts of the projects that are being funded through green bonds. The synergic potential between EP and green financing justifies the need for policies supporting the collaboration of public and private collaboration in attracting green capital flows from the private sectors. By enhancing the green bond market, these steps will contribute toward realizing low carbon economy goals by channeling funds to sustainable and environmentally friendly projects.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is an integral path towards realizing vision 2030 and the sustainable goals of the UN, as well as the sustainable development of individual countries. However, in recent years it has become increasingly clear that these goals cannot be achieved without sustainable corporate practices. Previous research seeking determine the effect of CSR on the financial performance of various institutions have yielded different results, leaving geographical, sectorial, and scholarly gaps. This study aimed to discover the effect of CSR on the financial performance of financial institutions in Kenya, as this country lacks a direct association between CSR and corporate financial performance (CFP). We focused on examining the effect of ethical, charitable, and gender-mainstreaming CSR activities on the financial performance of financial institutions in Kirinyaga County. A study population of 300 employees working in the financial institutions in Kirinyaga County was included, and a sample of 171 participants was selected using stratified and systematic sampling techniques. A causal research design was adopted, and data were analyzed using SPSS software. Questionnaires were administered in person to gather primary data. The study found a strong positive relationship between CSR practices and the financial performance of financial institutions and recommends that firms invest more in ethical, charitable, and gender-mainstreaming CSR activities, as such activities positively influence their financial performance.

Green banking has become a concept of interest, particularly with the focus on the role played by banks in pursuing Sustainable Development Goal 13 on climate action. This study is distinguished from previous ones in that it aimed at investigating the multi-regional view on green banking practices/activities around the world with a special emphasis on the opportunities and challenges that various banks encounter in different geographical areas. A systematic review approach was adopted based on the Web of Science and Scopus databases, in which 159 articles were retrieved and 62 articles synthesized through a thematic analysis. The research process was demonstrated through a Prisma 2020 flowchart. Key multiregional green banking activities identified include digital banking, green loan or sukuk products for Islam-dominated economies, green services and investments, and financing of green infrastructure. In essence, the implementation of green banking is either directly through active green lending and greening their operations or indirectly through enhancing conditions. The key challenges identified include regulatory handles, social economic and culture hinderances, transition risk and the high cost of compliance, greenwashing concerns, and weak investor confidence. The most prevalent opportunities included green banking as a strategic competitive advantage, emerging market niche, and as a strategy for long-term climate risk management.

In light of the growing global emphasis on sustainability, understanding the nexus between green banking practices and banks’ profitability is essential and timely. The main aim of this study was to conduct a meta-analysis examining the link between green banking practices and banks’ profitability. Based on 28 proxy relationships between green banking and green financing activities on banks profitability, a random-effects meta-analytic model was used to examine the corresponding effect sizes. An overall positive statistically insignificant effect size between green financing and green banking activities on banks profitability was established, implying that green banking activities do not consistently translate into financial benefits. However, this study established considerable heterogeneity of the results due to the application of different methodologies in diverse geographical contexts and varying green financing proxies. The study strongly recommends banks and policymakers adopt tailor-made, evidence-based green financing strategies to align their sustainability initiatives with market realities, regulatory frameworks, and institutional capacities. Such strategies promote the pursuit of both financial performance and environmental responsibility.