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Open research questions in Sustainable Finance and Green Bonds

25 unresolved questions extracted from the limitations and future-work sections of 557 Sustainable Finance and Green Bonds papers in our library. Each links back to the study that raised it.

What the literature leaves open

  • We argue that these efforts are insufficient because they do not adequately address that financial climate risk assessment will be subject to financial institutions’ model risk management processes, which mitigate the risk that modeling implementation errors, incomplete understanding of model adequacy, or inappropriate model use will lead to poor quality decisions.

    Using iterative reverse scenario logic to manage model risk in financial climate risk assessment · 2026 · DOI

  • However, they also reveal challenges such as limited investor base, high transaction costs, and lack of standardized ESG ratings. Being powerful in terms of developing renewable energy and sovereign bonds, India is still lacking in institutional coherence and universal ESG taxonomies.

    SUSTAINABLE FINANCE, ESG FRAMEWORKS, GREEN INVESTMENTS, AND CLIMATE FINANCE MECHANISMS: SPECIAL REFERENCE TO INDIA · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research should address these Dalil: The Impact of Sustainable Finance on Petroleum Trade and Transportation: Evidence from the Global Energy TransitionInternational Journal of Energy Economics and Policy | Vol 16 • Issue 4 • 2026 limitations through larger samples, longitudinal designs, and the incorporation of objective financial and operational indicators.

    The Impact of Sustainable Finance on Petroleum Trade and Transportation: Evidence from the Global Energy Transition · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research could address this issue using instrumental variable approaches or GMM estimators, once longer time series become available. This study examined the relationship between ESG factors and the cost of equity in the Polish banking sector, addressing an important gap in the literature on sustainability pricing in emerging and structurally specific financial systems.

    Evolution of Greenium. ESG and the Cost of Equity in the Polish Banking Sector · 2026 · DOI

  • This study is based primarily on publicly available financial data from 2022-2023 and hypothetical modelling of investment scenarios. The analysis does not incorporate qualitative insights from stakeholders or dynamic financial simulations. As such, the results should be interpreted as indicative rather than predictive. Future research could benefit from sensitivity analysis, stakeholder interviews, and market scenario stress testing.

    Financial Analysis of Green Bond Issuance Potential of Banks in Bulgaria in the Context of Sustainable Development · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research should focus on expanding empirical developing countries, evaluating the effectiveness of blended finance instruments in resilience outcomes, and exploring innovative financing models that can accelerate climate adaptation and support a toward transition just sustainable and resilient economies.

    Blended Finance for Climate Resilience: A Bibliometric Analysis · 2026 · DOI

  • From the research outcomes, AI’s integration into sustainable finance and ESG analytics across emerging markets is developing geometrically and unevenly across regions. Its most significant contribution lies in augmenting ESG-data credibility, improving the predictability of climate-related financial risks, opportunities and advancing disclosure standardisation under IFRS S1/S2. Furthermore, future progress depends on transparent, reproducible models and strong institutional collaborators between regulators, researchers, academia and industry. A central insight emerging from this AI review is that AI does not merely function as a technical enhancement to ESG reporting, but as a transformative governance mechanism that reshapes how sustainability information is generated, interpreted, and utilised. However, this transformation remains limited in many emerging economies due to persistent challenges, including data fragmentation, weak standardisation, limited reproducibility, and insufficient technical expertise to execute and maintain. The study further contributes to the literature by demonstrating that the integration of AI into ESG analytics aligns both institutional and dynamic capabilities perspectives. From an institutional perspective, regulatory clarity (IFRS S1/S2 and TCFD) serves as a driver of adoption, providing legitimacy and structure to sustainability disclosures. From the DCT perspective, firms’ ability to sense, invest, and reconfigure technological resources determines the extent to which AI can be effectively anchored to generate sustainability insights and competitive advantage. Importantly, despite the generally high methodological quality of the reviewed studies, important limitations persist, particularly in relation to data provenance, external validation and reproducibility. These limitations not only limit the scalability of AI applications but also raise concerns regarding transparency and trust in AIdriven ESG analytics. Addressing these gaps is essential if AI is to champion a meaningful role in strengthening sustainable finance systems in emerging markets. Okere, et al.: Artificial Intelligence-Powered Green Finance and Environmental, Social and Governance Tracking in Emerging Markets: A Systematic ReviewInternational Review of Management and Marketing | Vol 16 • Issue 4 • 2026 From the research findings, the study recommends that: i. Policy makers and regulators could establish open ESG data hubs. For example, South Africa’s JSE Sustainability Data Repository could model regional transparency, thereby promoting pan-African ESG databases. For instance, regional collaboration (particularly within BRICS and broader African markets) could accelerate the establishment of such data ecosystems. ii. Policymakers should integrate IFRS S1/S2 into local codes and standards.

    Artificial Intelligence-Powered Green Finance and Environmental, Social and Governance Tracking in Emerging Markets: A Systematic Review · 2026 · DOI

  • processes; to strategic proposing facilitate compliant and efficient integration of carbon trading with RWA technology; and concluding with future outlooks. to and case studies analyze identify practical technical, evaluating systematically comprehensively and optimization strategies Research Methodology: The study employs four literature review is methodological approaches. First, conducted and domestic international studies on carbon trading, RWA (Real-Time technology, policy documents, and Asset Valuation) industry reports, foundations. establishing theoretical Second, are performed by examining implemented RWA projects for carbon assets globally to summarize key experiences challenges. Third, regulatory analysis integrates China's market environment and policy requirements to examine compliance pathways for technology integration. Finally, systems analysis treats carbon trading markets and RWA technology as an organic whole, legal, regulatory, and market factors to propose holistic solutions. II. Related Concepts and Theoretical Foundations 2.1 Definition of Core Concepts 2.1.1 Carbon Trading Carbon trading, or carbon emission rights trading, refers to a market-based emission reduction mechanism that treats greenhouse gas emission allowances such as carbon dioxide as tradable commodities within government- regulated market systems. The core framework operates on "cap-and-trade" principles: governments establish regional or industry-wide carbon emission ceilings and allocate emission allowances to enterprises. Companies with actual emissions below their quotas can sell surplus allowances for profit, while those exceeding quotas must purchase additional allowances through the market or face penalties.

    Exploring the Integration Research of Carbon Trading and RWA Technology · 2026 · DOI

  • The study identifies several key obstacles to the widespread understanding and adoption of green banking: green investments often have lower cash flow and longer investment horizons; insufficient data on the environmental impact of green investments; long preparation and implementation timelines for ecological banking strategies; lower short-term profitability; higher operational costs; reputation risks for banks; lack of clear regulatory guidelines for green banking.

    Green banking: the modern trajectory of sustainable development of the national economy · 2025 · DOI

  • Notwithstanding the generic antecedents of green practices in the existing literature, little is known if water and energy consumption matter to investors who are going green.

    Probing the antecedents of investor green practices in South Africa · 2026 · DOI

  • Our study examines the impact of climate risk on the investment outcomes of publicly traded firms in emerging economies, an important yet understudied issue amid the rising occurrence of severe climate events.

    Climate risk and corporate investment behavior in emerging economies · 2025 · DOI

  • The extant research has not fully explored the greenwashing issue concerning GBs, particularly due to the controversies in the methods for identifying such practices.

    Green Bonds: Greenwashing or Genuinely Green? A Study Based on Stock Mispricing · 2025 · DOI

  • The extent of the aftermath, which is associated with the failure of monetary authorities in encouraging sustainability and the complications arising during economic activities in Africa, remains unknown.

    Postponing the Inevitable: Can Monetary Policy Promote Environmental Sustainability in Southern Africa? · 2022 · DOI

  • The scarce information provided by banks with a dominant Treasury shareholding results from the high level of exposure of these banks to companies from high-carbon sectors, also owned by the Treasury.

    Polish Banking Sector Facing Challenges Related to Environmental and Climate Protection · 2021 · DOI

  • A key limitation is the incorporation of existing Green Bond Principles, which enables not only green sukuk's international acceptance but also renders it susceptible to greenwashing.

    Ecologies of green finance: Green <i>sukuk</i> and development of green Islamic finance in Malaysia · 2021 · DOI

  • However, experiments in calculating time and value in climate finance continue, and although risk is being increasingly used to correlate different denominators of value, an overall solution for how climate change is to be accounted for in financial interventions remains elusive.

    Financialisation, Climate Finance, and the Calculative Challenges of Managing Environmental Change · 2019 · DOI

  • For most investors, it is impractical to physically hold water as part of a portfolio; therefore, an open question is how to better gain exposure to this asset.

    Water-related mutual funds: investment performance and social role · 2015 · DOI

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25 open questions have been extracted from the limitations and future-work passages of 557 Sustainable Finance and Green Bonds papers in our library. Each one below links back to the study that raised it, so you can read the original claim in context.

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