The state of green banking research: A bibliometric perspective from the past three decades

Abstract

Green banking, referring to environmentally sustainable banking practice, is of growing interest in the last 3 decades. This article conducts a bibliometric analysis of green banking studies, and provides a comprehensive overview on vein of green banking research development, trends and prospects. The research will be systematically conducted on green banking literature and draws insights from central themes, research methods, and influential studies between 1990 and 2020. Methodology we conducted this bibliometric analysis based on data from different academic databases (web of science, scopus, google scholar). The trend of green banking research was identified by reviewing the 450 green banking articles. Key stages in the sector are identified, from the first attempt at conceptualising green banking and the increasing adoption of sustainability metrics through to the selling of ‘eco-friendly financing’ and attempts to regulate or control finance to promote greener outcomes. The findings indicate that research in green banking has increased exponentially in the past three decades with a highly escalated quantum of publications since the 2000s. The earlier work which focused on theory was more theoretical, and the later work which was more empirical was based on empirical research, case studies or policy analysis.“geographically, the green banking is a domain which scholars from developed economies have led research, especially europe, north america and asia. But in recent years the focus has shifted to developing countries where green banking is increasingly being adopted. Research from the private sector spanning countries, as well as disciplines, has increasingly highlighted the need for a more globalized approach to addressing sustainability challenges in banking. Notwithstanding, there are still shortcomings in terms of the practical application of green banking and its influence on financial performance. For future studies, researchers should examine digital banking and its contribution to sustainability, the effectiveness of green banking regulations, and the financial industry’s reaction to environmental disasters, like climate change. This bibliometric analysis adds value to the literature by providing a panoramic view of the progress of research in green banking. In short, it offers important information to several audiences who are interested in learning about the emergence of green banking and its role in promoting sustainable economic development. This examination allows us to profile, trend, and critically discuss the challenges and opportunities within banking, illustrating the necessity of supporting ongoing research which aims to facilitate the process of sustainable banking. In assumption, green banking research has come to a crossroad, at which theoretical ideas should come to realm of practical applications. Banking, as both a financial and socio-economic powerhouse, has a crucial role to play in transitioning towards a more sustainable global economy.