International Social Science Journal (Chinese Edition)

No.1, 2021

How can finance serve environmental protection better: studies of financialisation and sustainable development

(Abstract)

LIU Yue

An important part of EU’s FESSUD project is the work to investigate into the relationship  between financialisation and sustainability from the point of view of environmental sustainability, with focus on such themes as the unsustainability of the existing energy system, the need for a rapid transition to a low carbon  economy, and the financialisation of built environments. It is worthwhile to mention some studies of the project: 1) a few crucial methodological issues; 2) analyses of the unsustainability of the existing energy systems based on the prevailing use of carbon fuels, focusing on the urgency for a rapid transition to a low carbon  economy; 3) analyses of the role financial instruments may play to promote and facilitate the transition towards a low carbon economy, and the results from the investigations into the implications for sustainability of the growing trade of energy derivatives; 4) conclusions from the exploration into how to disembed the sustainability of the “real” economy of socio-ecological flows of matter and energy from the impacts of money; 5) research into relations between financialisation of built environments and urban sustainability; 6)  discussions of the growing problems affecting environmental policy in a financialised economy, and an introduction to the main policy implications deriving from the preceding analysis.