Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/282979 
Year of Publication: 
2023
Series/Report no.: 
IDOS Discussion Paper No. 15/2023
Publisher: 
German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS), Bonn
Abstract: 
In recent years, many jurisdictions have developed sustainability taxonomies that aim to increase transparency of financial markets and redirect capital flows to sustainable investments. Such sustainable finance policies can be important levers because today's investments shape economic production processes for decades. This case study on South Africa's Green Finance Taxonomy (GFT) addresses the question of what factors influence the adoption of sustainability taxonomies by potential users. It finds that one year after its publication, the GFT has hardly been used in practice. Important factors hindering an effective implementation are a lack of regulatory embedding, the absence of a legal recognition of the GFT by the European Union (EU), a hesitancy among financial market participants to build capacities to collect the necessary data, and fossil-fuel path dependencies in South Africa's economy. These findings have important policy implications (e.g. regarding accompanying governance measures) for implementation processes in many countries in the coming years.
Subjects: 
Green finance
sustainable finance
green taxonomy
sustainability taxonomy
South Africa
financial markets
policy implementation
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
ISBN: 
978-3-96021-218-8
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by Logo
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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