Overview
Globally several economies have already set their carbon neutrality targets. To accelerate the achievement of carbon emission reduction targets, economies need to accelerate the energy transition from highly polluting fossil fuels to green and renewable energy; however, the current pace of investment is insufficient to achieve the carbon neutrality goals.
The current slowed economic growth, the high interest rates, and economic uncertainties resulted in a drastic reduction in green investments. This could threaten the expansion of green energy needed to provide energy security and meet SDG7 and SDG13. (Yoshino, Taghizadeh-Hesary, and Otsuka, 2020). Although, most recently, several new green financing solutions such as green bonds, green banks, green credit guarantees, carbon taxation, carbon trade, village funds, and community trust funds have been established in different countries, the current green investment data shows that these are insufficient, and alternative ways to finance projects are required (Taghizadeh-Hesary and Yoshino, 2019).
Technological and financial innovation are already offering sustainability solutions across the financial system’s five core functions: moving value, storing value, exchanging value, funding value creation; and managing value at risk. (UNDP, 2016; Taghizadeh-Hesary and Hyun, 2022). Increasing transparency, accountability, decentralization of the financial system, improving risk management, increasing competition, lowering the costs and improving efficiency, increasing speed, and increasing cross-sectoral collaboration and integration are the features that financial technology (FinTech) can provide (UNDP, 2016; Muganyi et al. 2022). Artificial intelligence (AI), distributed ledger technologies (DLT) or blockchain, peer-to-peer lending platforms, big data, internet-based and mobile-based payments, Internet of Things (IoT), matchmaking platforms including crowdlending, tokenizing green assets are potential means to scale up the green finance for achieving the SDGs (Yoshino, Schlosser and Taghizadeh-Hesary, 2020). According to UNEP (2018), AI could lift global GDP by US$15-20 trillion by 2030. Securing the resilience of such an achievement, notably its environmental and social sustainability, may well be accomplished by digitalizing green finance or by ‘green digital finance.’ (Taghizadeh-Hesary and Hyun, 2022).
A literature review shows a gap in utilizing digital instruments and FinTech in green finance. Against this background, This call-for-papers aims to fill this gap by collecting high-quality empirical, theoretical, or case study papers on Green Digital Finance and Energy Transition for being considered for publishing in the special issue of Financial Innovation.
Topics of interest in this special issue include, but are not limited to:
- How can the digital finance revolution drive energy transition?
- How to best remove barriers to scaling green digital finance?
- What are the regulatory and legal requirements and solutions for green digital finance?
- What is the role of governments in enhancing green digital finance?
- What are the risks associated with green digital finance, and how to cope with them?
- Theoretical studies on the role of green digital finance in the energy transition.
- Empirical and case studies on utilizing digital finance and FinTech in funding green projects in different countries and sectors.
- Application of AI, DLT or blockchain, peer-to-peer lending platforms, big data, internet-based and mobile-based payments, IoT, matchmaking platforms including crowdlending and tokenizing green assets in scaling up the green finance
- Financial institutions and green digital finance
Schedule
Submission Deadline: December 30, 2023
Acceptance Deadline: December 30, 2024
Guest Editors
Farhad Taghizadeh-Hesary (managing guest editor)
Associate Professor, School of Global Studies, Tokai University, Japan
TOKAI Research Institute for Environment and Sustainability (TRIES), Japan
Vice President, International Society for Energy Transition Studies (ISETS), Australia
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5446-7093
Email: farhad@tsc.u-tokai.ac.jp
Muhammad Kamran Khan
Senior Lecturer, Bahria University, Islamabad, Pakistan
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7687-0382
Email: kamrankhanaup@gmail.com
Bing Xu
Associate Profesor, Heriot-Watt University, Scotland, UK
Submission procedure:
Before submitting a paper to the special issue, the authors are further advised to seek guidance for Financial Innovation from the following URL: https://jfin-swufe.springeropen.com/submission-guidelines
Manuscripts should be submitted electronically through:
https://www.editorialmanager.com/fini/default1.aspx
Authors are requested to select the special issue title (VSI: Green Digital Finance) from the relevant drop-down menu during the submission process. Requests for further information should be addressed to the managing guest editor Dr. Farhad Taghizadeh-Hesary (farhad@tsc.u-tokai.ac.jp).