Convened by Stephanie Garcidueñas Nieto and Hector Herrera, Institute of Development Policy, University of Antwerp

This session focuses on critically engaging with green finance instruments—including green and blue bonds, debt-for-nature swaps, transition bonds, and green microfinance—to discuss their political economy, governance, and distributive effects. While green finance has become central to global climate governance (COP22 was often called “the finance COP”), research remains oriented toward market mechanics and technical metrics (i.e., greenium, capital mobilization, carbon capture, alternative modes of finance). 

We invite papers that move beyond these emphases to interrogate who benefits from green financial instruments, through what mechanisms, and with what implications for power, accountability, and justice. 

Contributions may adopt diverse theoretical and methodological approaches—comparative and single-country case studies, quantitative analyses of flows and outcomes, ethnographies of financial practice, critical policy histories, and discourse or network analysis. 

We welcome work that examines design and implementation processes, the role of public and private actors, regulatory and rating regimes, and unintended socio-environmental consequences. Empirical coverage across geographies and scales is encouraged, including urban, national, and transnational settings. By focusing on political interests, governance dynamics, and distributive outcomes, this session aims to advance green finance debate and inform policy discussions about the promises and perils of financing a low-carbon and climate-resilient transition.