Sustainable Finance – Ökologisches Wirtschaften 3/2025
Green investments are considered a key lever for sustainable transformation, but greenwashing is widespread in the financial sector. The latest issue of “Ökologisches Wirtschaften” highlights the challenges facing green finance and shows which problems remain despite new EU guidelines. How can public and private financial flows be mobilized to promote greater sustainability—for example, for climate-resilient infrastructure, new technologies, and economic sectors? Despite rising investment in renewable energies, there are “huge financing gaps” in many areas that require targeted steering, according to Florian Kern and Bernd Hirschl in the introduction to the focus section.
Politics, market, and financial transition: New perspectives on sustainable finance
How can the real economy and financial markets be better integrated with each other in order to effectively shape socio-ecological transformation? In her article Kristina Jeromin appeals to politicians: only a reliable regulatory framework can create the necessary planning security and certainty of expectations so that public and private actors can act together in how they operate.
Silke Ötsch then critically evaluates the EU approach. She shows that the current focus on transparency mechanisms and market logic is not enough to enable profound change—and instead advocates for other socially and ecologically motivated approaches.
The threat of existing regulations being watered down is the focus of the article by Magdalena Senn and Alison Schultz from the organization “Finanzwende”. They argue that the planned relaxation of documentation requirements would be a step backward—and instead call for the European sustainable finance regulatory framework to be strengthened and further developed.
Shaping transformation: Focus on public actors and civil society
Can savings banks go from laggards to pioneers in financing the transformation? Ulrich Klüh, Jakob Kubin and Ilias Naji explore this question. They analyze contradictory institutional logics within the savings bank system and discuss the conditions under which savings banks could once again focus more strongly on relationship banking.
Cities also play a central role when it comes to sustainable investment. In her article Christine Wilcken calls for local authorities to receive a fixed share of the federal government's planned Future Pact – combined with clear planning and investment security, the mobilization of private capital, and social compatibility.
Finally, Sophie Progscha, Janina Urban and Florian Kern examine the role of civil society in the sustainable financial world. Their article shows how organizations influence politics and financial markets through various channels.
Also in this issue: Environmental policy in transition and working from home as an energy issue
How must governance approaches and environmental policy change in the Anthropocene era? Ulrich Petschow recommends: “Environmental policy in the Anthropocene requires shared responsibility and new alliances.” He advocates a stronger focus on everyday realities, care practices, and long-term utopias. Instead of technocratic solutions, we need a different kind of modernity that understands ecological crises in their social contexts.
Changes in the world of work are also having a profound impact on energy consumption and climate policy. In their article Astrid Aretz, Julika Weiß, Kai Rewitz, Dennis Derwein, and Dirk Müller show what new forms of work places demand on the energy system. Although the CO₂ effects are still minor at present, in the long term they will provide important impetus for a sustainable and integrated energy infrastructure.
Reading samples (German Language):
- Martin Oldeland: Sustainability communication in a regulatory fog: Green claims and EmpCo
- Florian Kern, Bernd Hirschl: Sustainable Finance: Capital Flows Between the Green Deal and Greenwashing
► To the online edition of Ökologisches Wirtschaften 3/2025
New free download: Agriculture and the energy transition
In 2023, the energy industry was the largest emitter of greenhouse gases. To achieve the goal of reducing the sector's emissions to zero by 2045, more renewable energies are needed. The expansion of photovoltaic systems, for example, requires a lot of space, which creates pressure on land use, which in turn has an impact on agriculture. In this issue's focus section, the authors discuss these interfaces and highlight synergies—for example, agri-photovoltaics can help to ease land use conflicts. “New concepts and technologies offer mutual benefits for energy and agriculture on the path to climate neutrality,” say IÖW researchers Hannes Bluhm and Johannes Rupp in their introduction to the focus topic.