Systematic literature review on sustainable finance: overview and future directions
Ghulam Abbas, Gang Zeng, Naila Bibi, Muhammad Arif, Mahdi Salehi and Suha M Alwai
Keywords:
Sustainable finance, Systematic literature review, Sustainability, Network analysis, Bibliometric analysis, future agenda
Abstract:
The increased global concerns over social and environmental protection, climate change, and sustainable development have gained attention in recent literature. Sustainable finance plays a significant role in integrating financial capital to address these challenges. The current study explores the trends and extent of research in sustainable finance. The quantitative (bibliometric) and qualitative (content) analyses are conducted, utilizing scientometric and strategic mapping techniques to identify themes and key research areas. The dataset is extracted from the Scopus database from 2001 to 2023. After rigorous exclusion and inclusion criteria, 2022 articles were used for bibliometric analysis, and 15 articles were used for content analysis. The findings highlight the surge in publications, such as 691 articles published in 2023, mainly due to the Paris Agreement, 2015, and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The results also highlight the frequency of keywords used by authors, so green finance has been used largely, with a denomination of 556 occurrences with 197 nodes and a total link strength of 947, representing the main research themes from the sustainable finance literature, followed by sustainable finance, with a denomination of 319 occurrences with a total link strength of 585, and climate finance, with 257 occurrences. Furthermore, researchers can use the future directions provided in the findings of this study. In addition, it provides practical implications for environmental regulators and academicians. The study highlights the potential of sustainable finance to make a more significant impact by offering environmentally protective financial instruments.
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 Systematic literature review on sustainable finance: overview and future directions [PDF file] [Filesize: 1.12 MB]
 10.7441/joc.2026.SI.06
Abbas, G., Zeng, G., Bibi, N., Arif, M., Salehi, M., & Alwai, S. M. (2026). Systematic Literature Review on Sustainable Finance: Overview and Future Directions. Journal of Competitiveness, 18(SI), 142–165. https://doi.org/10.7441/joc.2026.SI.06
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