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Caught between path-dependence and green opportunities : assessing the impetus for green banking in South Africa

  • As investors and financial intermediaries, private banks are increasingly confronted with climate change concerns. But to what extent do banks identify as the changemakers driving climate alignment forward? To advance this question, this paper analyzes the South African banking sector with a specific focus on Standard Bank and Nedbank as exemplary case studies. Relying on the concept of "climate mainstreaming", we critically assess the banks' annual reports and compare their self-portrayal with publicly available sources on the bank's business practices, chiefly provided by non-governmental organizations and media. We find that Nedbank pushes a holistic narrative of climate change as an inevitable business opportunity. Standard Bank, inAs investors and financial intermediaries, private banks are increasingly confronted with climate change concerns. But to what extent do banks identify as the changemakers driving climate alignment forward? To advance this question, this paper analyzes the South African banking sector with a specific focus on Standard Bank and Nedbank as exemplary case studies. Relying on the concept of "climate mainstreaming", we critically assess the banks' annual reports and compare their self-portrayal with publicly available sources on the bank's business practices, chiefly provided by non-governmental organizations and media. We find that Nedbank pushes a holistic narrative of climate change as an inevitable business opportunity. Standard Bank, in turn, relies on a "narrative of balance" between climate change and other profit-oriented investments to safeguard its stakes in the fossil industry. In so doing, this paper sheds light on greenwashing practices within disclosure specifically and the lack of binding corporate regulation more generally.show moreshow less

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Metadaten
Document Type:Peer-Reviewed Article
Author:Carsten Elsner, Manuel Neumann
URN (citable link):https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:bsz:wup4-opus-84399
DOI (citable link):https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esg.2023.100194
Year of Publication:2023
Language:English
Source Title (English):Earth system governance
Volume:18
Article Number:100194
Divisions:Energie-, Verkehrs- und Klimapolitik
Dewey Decimal Classification:320 Politik
OpenAIRE:OpenAIRE
Licence:License LogoCreative Commons - CC BY - Namensnennung 4.0 International