Mapping the Sustainable Finance Knowledge Base: Evolution, Focus, and Future Direction

Abstract

Sustainable finance has emerged as a pivotal mechanism for aligning financial flows with environmental, social, and governance objectives, helping to address climate change, biodiversity loss, and social inequities. Its rapid expansion, coupled with the diversity of stakeholders—ranging from academics and policymakers to financial institutions, NGOs, and rating agencies—demands a clear understanding of how the knowledge base in this field has evolved. This study addresses the question: How has sustainable finance research developed over time, what are its thematic foci, and where is it heading? Drawing data from "the Scopus database", the research utilized the "PRISMA" methodology for selection and evaluated 419 manuscripts using "the VOSviewer" software. The findings indicate that sustainable finance research is still in its infancy due to the fact that it began to emerge in 2019, with significant attention given to areas such as the fintech ecosystem, financial inclusion, digital financial inclusion, green digital finance, sustainability, and ESG investments. Additionally, the study found a clear correlation between the number of publications a scholar has and the citation counts received. It also highlights that sustainable finance research is predominantly concentrated in developed countries, with minimal contributions from developing nations. Overall, the study offers valuable perspectives on the historical development, current trends, and future directions of sustainable finance trajectories. This research contributes significantly to the field of "sustainable finance" by examining bibliometric data, retrieved from the "Scopus database", through the analysis of major trends that have emerged in "sustainable finance" studies. It further enhances value by highlighting the developing areas within this domain.