Prospects of green financing in democratic societies

Abstract

Financing ecological and other grand global challenges is faced with intertwined issues at both the institutional side and the public side as elements of the tragedy of the quintuple horizons. These horizons are approached from a systemic perspective, with attention on the key players involved. Starting with (system) banks, their conservative attitude is explained in terms of the iron cage theory. Next, green challenges are pictured as 'very wicked' problems, varying in moral intensity. The conflicting roles of the public as citizens and as consumers are described in terms of Kohlberg's theory of cognitive moral development. Responsibilities for future generations are clarified by distinguishing the responsibility as accountability and the responsibility as virtue. Assignments for a green future are explored from the perspective of green financing with a focus on what should be expected from the public at large in multiparty democratic societies, keeping in mind that other societies are characterized by diverting economic and political dynamics, and hence, other modes of operating¹.

¹ See, for instance, for China: Macaire & Naef (2022) and Liu, Wang, Zhang & Zhang (2019).