Greening the Canvas: How ESG Investing and Green Finance Can Paint a Sustainable Future for Culture-Led Development
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54536/jgesd.v1i2.6714Keywords:
Development Through Culture, Environmental Responsible Investment, ESG Integration, Green Investment, Sustainable Cultural PolicyAbstract
The core relationship between environmental sustainability and culture-led development though the effectiveness of ESG investment and green finance is the main purpose of this paper. By employing panel data from 42 countries in Europe, Asia and Latin America from 2005 to 2023, this study attempts to evaluate the impact of ESG investing and green finance on culture sector CO₂ emission activities, alongside culture-led development’s emission-offsetting mechanisms. After applying econometric methods that capture cross-section dependence and slope heterogeneity, results show that culture-led development is associated with a substantial increase in CO2 emissions per capita, thereby confirming the culture development issues that pertain to the environmental sustainability of the development model. However, ESG investing and green finance can, in isolation, and in combination, attenuate these emissions by moderating the culture-development-emissions nexus. Other emission reduction factors such as the quality of institutions, renewable resources, and technological development, juxtaposed with tourism concentration and the growth of urban cultural infrastructure, which increases emission margins, are noted. Sensitivity tests underscore regional and income level differences within these relationships. These findings offer relevant cultural policies for financing mechanisms that embrace culture sustainable development targets to the level of United Nations SDG 11 and SDG 13.
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