In this first edition, Integrating sustainability in finance research and practice: Social science lenses on market transformations, Misum affiliated researchers Rachelle Belinga and Emilia Cederberg discuss research findings with Maya Rebermark, Misum Director of Stakeholder Engagement on the trajectory of sustainable finance knowledge and practice and how it has been integrated across university departments and financial institutions.

They discuss the empirical foundations of sustainable finance, point out that most studies are actually based on the data from rating agencies and businesses and thus shaped by their understanding of the concept. They take a closer look at how this links to ESG factors and scores, the EU taxonomy for sustainable business, market transformation, and the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Besides this co-production of knowledge between research and practice, the scholars put emphasis on the distinct strategies that are applied in academia and practice and how all actors are bound to specific institutional arrangements and action spaces. A major limitation of sustainable finance as it is practised today is identified as the attachment to the business case rather than market transformation. More recent political developments, but also more reflexivity and consideration of broader scientific models are discussed as new approaches to sustainable finance.