Sustainable Finance Research Centre

Welcome to the Sustainable Finance Research Centre

The global discourse on sustainable development encompasses environmental considerations and societal issues that strive towards the development of the human well-being while preserving the needs of the future. The focus has shifted from the pursuit of growth to a sustainable development.

The term "sustainable development" was coined by the Brundtland Report in 1987. The United Nations formed a special and independent body, the World Commission on Environment and Development, to address the pressing issues concerning a global agenda for change. The report, that also held the title "Our Common Future" laid the foundations for the Earth Summit in 1992, and the establishment of the Commission on Sustainable Development. 

Global efforts to spur sustainability require a multidisciplinary approach. While many of the natural sciences and social sciences have integrated sustainability considerations into their disciplines, finance and investments are the recent joiners to this topic, with the emergence of new branches like ESG, climate risk and green finance.

The rise of sustainability considerations in the finance and the investment industry, coupled with the pressing climate emergency bring the need for academic research to enhance theory and focus on empirical research to seek nature-positive solutions. We established the Sustainable Finance Research Centre as a collaboration to strengthen the interlink between research and industry practice. We work as part of the Institute of Finance at Corvinus University of Budapest.

We conduct empirical research on the impact of financial markets and investments on sustainability issues. As environmental and societal issues are becoming more pressing, the need arises to redefine asset ownership, shareholder value, true costs of funding and assessing full impact including externalities. The responsibility of a sustainable future lies with us all - individuals, businesses and governments.