Green Finance Key for Sustainable Development of Economy

Green finance is an element of a broader occurrence; from the incorporation of assorted non-financial or ethical concerns onto the financial universe. Generally green finance is taken into account because the resource for green growth which reduces greenhouse emission emissions and air pollutant emissions significantly. Green finance in agriculture, green buildings and other green projects should increase for the economic development of the country. In this paper an effort has been made to explain green financing in a very boarder sense. In present times of technological progress the worldwide economy is undermined from three major challenges: environmental change, vitality limitations and money related emergency. this can be on account of economic improvement conveys alongside itself expenses to the countries within the shape of environmental degradation. Green finance is that the solution for accomplishing contract between the economy and nature. Green finance is taken into account because the monetary help for green development, which decreases ozone depleting substance discharges and air contamination emanations altogether. Green fund in horticulture, green structures, green security and other green activities should increase for the monetary improvement of the state. During this paper an Endeavour has been made to explore the prevailing literature on the green finance and future scope of green finance in India. Green finance is an emerging concept within the field of finance. Because of limitation of public finance for financing the sustainable development and reducing the consequences of temperature change temperature change}, private finance has gained its importance. Green finance which capitalizes the private finance refers to financial support for sustainable development. This study, through secondary information, attempts to debate the necessity, constraint and government initiative for green finance. the aim of this paper is to aware the private investors about their role in sustainability.

The Transformation of Dorćol Power Plant: Triggering a Sustainable Urban Regeneration or Selling the Heritage?

The power plant “Power and Light” (1932, Belgrade) was the first one to generate alternating current in Serbia. Situated along the Danube river, it represented a part of an industrial area positioned in the Dorćol neighborhood, close to the urban core. Since 2005, the whole area has been exposed to a significant transformation into a luxurious residential and commercial complex, triggered by the intentions of private investors and directed by the ideas of changing city authorities. Considering the unpredictable local context created by the dominant post-socialist transitional economy, the article focuses on the sensitive relationship between the social sustainability of the ongoing urban regeneration plans and the emerging neoliberal forces targeting the areas of industrial heritage. Consequently, the case of the Dorćol ex-power plant and the anticipated changes in its urban surrounding are analyzed according to the selected principles of social sustainability. Revealing numerous controversies, both on the level of preferred urban policies and their questionable application, this case addresses the problems of heritage (re)use and regeneration in an environment of fast-shifting governmental priorities and financial flows, with reduced receptivity to sustainable solutions.

Circularity in the New Gravity—Re-Thinking Vernacular Architecture and Circularity

The mounting climate change crisis and the rapid urbanization of cities have pressured many practitioners, policymakers, and even private investors to develop new policies, processes, and methods for achieving more sustainable construction methods. Buildings are considered to be among the main contributors to harmful environmental impacts, resource consumption, and waste generation. The concept of a circular economy (CE), also referred to as “circularity”, has gained a great deal of popularity in recent years. CE, in the context of the building industry, is based on the concept of sustainable construction, which calls for reducing negative environmental impacts while providing a healthier indoor environment and closing material loops. Both vernacular architecture design strategies and circular economy principles share many of the same core concepts. This paper aims at investigating circular economy principles in relation to vernacular architecture principles in the built environment. The study demonstrates how circular principles can be achieved through the use of vernacular construction techniques and using local building materials. This paper will focus on Egypt as one of the oldest civilizations in the world, with a wide vernacular heritage, exploring how circularity is rooted in old vernacular settlements and how it can inspire contemporary circular practices.

Opportunities to Increase Financial Well-Being by Investing in Environmental, Social and Governance with Respect to Improving Financial Literacy under COVID-19: The Case of Latvia

The latest studies reveal that the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed investors in developed economies to focus more on the value attached to environmental and social responsibilities. Unfortunately, socially responsible investment and compliance with environmental, social and governance criteria are not given enough priority in Latvia at present. The purpose of the study is to investigate how the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced the willingness of Latvians to invest in assets that meet environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria and factors influencing investors’ choice based on their financial literacy. Different views on sustainable investments, socially responsible investments and the relevance of environmental, social and governance criteria from private investors’ perspectives were analyzed to identify factors influencing investment decisions in favour of sustainable investments. Quantitative analysis was carried out to reveal the regularities between financial literacy, the willingness to invest to meet the ESG criteria and the level of education and income of the Latvian population, as well as their savings/investment experience. Such statistical methods as descriptive statistics and hypothesis testing were applied to perform an analysis of the results. The authors’ findings include the importance of sustainable investing to Latvian society, changes of attitude towards ESG investing in different private investors’ groups under the COVID-19 crisis, and the effects of these changes on the financial well-being of the population and, on the basis of these findings, have come to the conclusion that the willingness to invest in the assets that follow environmental, social and governance criteria depends on the level of education, savings/investment experience and income level.

Tourism potential of Ukraine in the context of geography and current state of German cultural heritage

The article describes theoretical foundations of the study of tourism potential of the regions of Ukraine in the context of geography and current state of German cultural heritage. The historical preconditions for the formation and development of cultural heritage of German ethnic minority on the territory of the modern Ukraine are studied. Geography of German ethnic minority of the early XX century within the modern territory of Ukraine and geography of ethnic Germans and German cultural heritage in the modern Ukraine are developed. On the basis of a cluster analysis of indicators of the number of preserved objects and the number of former German settlements, groups of regions with high, medium and low potential for the development of ethnic tourism are identified. Odesa, Lviv, Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv and Zhytomyr are the leaders by the number of objects of German cultural heritage among all regions of Ukraine. The group of regions with a medium level of potential for ethnic tourism includes the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Volyn, Kherson, Ivano-Frankivsk, Mykolaiv, Poltava, Chernivtsi, and Khmelnytskyi regions. Seven main types of preserved objects of German cultural heritage in Ukraine are identified. Sacred objects and public buildings and structures are best represented. The objects of German cultural heritage preserved to this day in the context of the regions of Ukraine are described. It was found that the main obstacles to the development of German ethnic tourism in Ukraine are the destruction of many cultural heritage objects, lack of funding for restoration of these objects, insufficient involvement of objects to tourist routes and low level of their promotion. The main ways to overcome these obstacles are identified: allocation of budget funds for the restoration of objects, attracting private investors, international organizations and German community; development of new tourist routes; marking places with information stands, publishing information materials about objects; digitalization of objects; organization of international conferences, round tables, festivals, etc.

Directed Internationalized Statism in Germany

Germany has been seen as relatively closed to overseas equity purchases because of its corporate governance system based on insiders. Yet, after an initial period of debate, it has followed policies of directed internationalized statism towards Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs). A powerful coalition of the federal finance and economics ministries, together with representatives of firms, has argued that openness to SWF investment offers export orders and patient capital, in contrast to short-term private investors. The coalition has followed policies of welcoming and seeking SWF investment in industrial firms, large and small. Although a new legislative framework for non-European share purchases has been established, its powers have never been used against SWFs. The German case shows how economic and finance ministries, and representatives of companies, are able to use SWFs to reinforce key elements of the German model of capitalism such as patient capital and export-led growth.

Green roofs – good regulatory practices with potential to be applied in Bulgaria and North Macedonia

Green roofs are used worldwide to mitigate the impacts of extensive urbanization, bringing benefits on social, economic, and environmental levels. In order to promote and facilitate the construction of green roofs by private investors, many countries have developed specific legislative requirements and incentives. However, there still are countries where the construction of green roofs is not properly addressed in the legislation, and where no incentive mechanisms are developed.  The good practices in three European countries, leaders in regards to the implementation of green roofs – the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany, are analyzed in this article. A variety of incentives is introduced to accelerate the construction of green roofs. Different requirements are also set to ensure that the roofs will be designed and maintained to provide the desired benefits. The existing local regulations in Bulgaria and North Macedonia were analyzed as well. The only incentive in Bulgaria is the possibility of reducing the legally required green area by compensating it with a green roof. In North Macedonia, no legislative documents or incentives related to green roofs were found. The regulations, applied in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and other countries can be used as good practice examples, modified, and applied from the authorities of countries that still have not developed their own, in order to motivate the investors and facilitate the construction of green roofs.

French Strategies of Directed Internationalized Statism

France has a popular and academic reputation as a state-influenced economy that is suspicious of foreign private investors, especially in strategic sectors and ‘national firms’. Yet this chapter shows that it has followed a strategy of directed internationalized statism, focused on attracting selected Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) to specific ‘national champion’ firms and sectors. The political executive has welcomed SWFs, despite some parliamentary concerns over national security and a rhetoric of ‘economic patriotism’ that arose when private American firms sought to take over French ones. Although additional legislative powers for overseas investments have been created, they have not been used against SWFs. Instead, policy makers have used SWF investments to support domestic firms, notably by providing new sources of patient capital, supportive share owners, and export orders. The French case shows how policy makers can use overseas state investors as part of strategies to adapt longstanding policies of state-led industrial policies to liberalized and internationalized markets.

Determination of government guarantee and revenue cap in public–private partnership contracts

PurposeConsidering there is a lack of research in determining the optimal levels of government guarantee and revenue cap, the objective of this research is to determine their optimal levels to achieve a reasonable financial risk allocation between governments and private investors while avoiding overly lucrative conditions for private investors.Design/methodology/approachExpanded net present value (NPV) analysis and bargaining game theory are employed to construct the core of the determination process. The risk gap between governments and private investors is assessed via an expanded NPV analysis to see if the financial risk has been shared reasonably, based on which the range of the government guarantee is decided. A bargaining model is then created to help locate the optimal level of the government guarantee. Finally, a revenue cap, often combined with the government guarantee in public–private partnership (PPP) agreements, will be determined if overly lucrative conditions for private investors are observed or governments suffer a risk spillover.FindingsReferring to a real PPP project in Australia, Project BA is created to validate the applicability of the proposed determination process. The outcome shows that the proposed determination process in this paper is capable of determining the optimal levels of government guarantee and revenue cap. The government preferences towards risk allocation will influence the values of the optimal levels. Governments may also consider to alleviate the control over investors' net profits to mobilise private investors into PPP projects.Research limitations/implicationsThere is a potential possibility that the revenue cap fails to control the financial risk for governments or the overly lucrative condition for private investors. In other words, even though the revenue cap is set at the minimal level, the financial risk for governments still beyond their tolerance range or the overly lucrative condition for private investors still occurs. Future research may focus on other financial protective schemes which help to better control the financial risks for governments and profits for private investors.Originality/valueGovernment guarantees are frequently used as an investment incentive to reduce the probabilities of suffering loss for private investors. Nevertheless, the financial risks for governments may increase after providing guarantees and, as a result, revenue cap is required by governments to avoid placing themselves in an unprotected situation. By recognising the importance of the two contractual parameters, many scholars dig into their option values. However, there are very rare research works focussing on the method of determining the specific levels of government guarantee and revenue cap. To overcome the limitations of existing models and enrich the methodology for government guarantee and revenue cap determination, this paper contributes to the body of knowledge by developing a government guarantee and revenue cap determination process which contributes to a reasonable allocation of financial risks between governments and private investors.

“We Do the Social”

The ethnographic study was conducted in the unplanned settlement of Adjahui, which is located in Port Bouët municipality of the Abidjan metropolis, Côte d’Ivoire, where, after a short period of self-building activities, rental housing was constructed on a massive scale. We asked about the motivations behind these investments into the lowest price segment of rentals in Abidjan and their property management. Findings from interviews with 12 estate agents revealed that small-scale private investors from the middle class and West African migrant background speculated with low-cost housing under extra-legal conditions to accumulate or maintain their wealth. These entrepreneurial landlords delegated construction of courtyard houses and property management to local non-accredited estate agencies. While the deals between investors and estate agents were driven by profit, the occupational history of the estate agents showed how they randomly moved into this business. Their work was also socially motivated, as they expressed responsibility for their customers, who could not afford other rental housing. The paper will discuss how the investments reduced the quantitative deficit in low-cost rental housing.