Sustainable Finance for Climate
funded by the Mercator Foundation
The Mercator Foundation has been funding the joint project "Sustainable Finance for Climate" since spring 2025. The research network consists of the University of Hamburg and the University of Kassel; the Universities of Augsburg and Paderborn are also involved in the project as partners.
Background
The World Economic Forum's Global Risk Report 2024 shows that extreme weather events, the loss of biodiversity and changes to global ecosystems are among the greatest long-term risks to the economy and society.
In the "Sustainable Finance for Climate" project, we are investigating what role the financial sector can play in overcoming these risks. Climate change and biodiversity loss directly affect companies and financial markets - through physical damage, regulatory changes or the loss of ecosystem services. At the same time, new opportunities are emerging, for example through investments in green technologies, climate-friendly infrastructure or business models that promote biodiversity.
Sustainable finance is the lever to channel capital specifically into solutions that are economically viable and contribute to transformation. Our focus is on the risks - and on the potential that a clever integration of climate and biodiversity aspects into financial decisions opens up.
The results of the project not only flow into scientific publications, but above all into the practical discussion surrounding sustainable finance. Through policy briefs, events and targeted exchanges with politicians, the financial sector and civil society, we contribute to the further development of regulation, market practices and educational programs. The aim is to provide scientifically sound impetus - for a sustainable transformation and real impact in practice.
Main topics
Reliable, comparable reporting is a basic prerequisite for sustainable financial markets. We are investigating how disclosure standards - particularly at European level - need to be designed to create transparency and promote ambition while remaining practicable for small and medium-sized enterprises. A particular focus is on implementation practice and digital support.
Impact investments are financial products that are intended to make a contribution to a more sustainable economy and society. In this context, a distinction must be made between the impact of real investors or companies ("company impact") and the impact of financial investors or investments ("investor impact"). Based on this, a distinction can be made between two types of investments: "impact-aligned investments" and "impact-generating investments". In line with this logic, we investigate How can impact of different types of investments be captured? Which impact channels play a role and to what extent? And how can the actual impact of sustainable investments be communicated in an understandable way?
Many people want to invest sustainably - but encounter high barriers to entry, a lack of transparency or unsuitable products. We analyze how sustainable investments can be designed in such a way that they are accessible, understandable and useful for small investors. The focus is on questions relating to the perception of sustainable financial products, the development of suitable forms of investment for transformation financing as well as classification and consumer orientation. The aim is to lower the barriers to effective investing - and to show new ways in which retail investors can also become part of the solution.
The new EU reporting obligations resulting from the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and the European Sustainability Reporting Standards pose various challenges for companies, auditing firms, supervisory authorities and universities. The new regulation, which requires comprehensive and standardized reporting on environmental, social and governance (ESG) aspects, has a significant impact on training and skills in the aforementioned institutions. The project develops practical training formats and impulses for teaching in order to sustainably strengthen ESG know-how, digital skills and regulatory understanding.