BANKS AND CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION – A BUSINESS-ETHICAL ANALYSIS
Manuel Woersdoerfer
Assistant Professor
School of Computing and Information Science, and
Maine Business School, University of Maine
Thursday, November 29, 2018, 2PM
138 Sawyer Building
Abstract: Banks and other financial institutions are among those agents in the global political economy which (co-)determine whether or not financial resources are used in an ethical and environmentally friendly manner. As such, they are key actors in the transition towards an ethical and green (low-carbon or carbon-free) economy; that is, by ‘voting’ with their money, they ideally help catalyzing the process towards economic, ecological, and social sustainability. In this talk, I will first take a closer look at the current relationship between the finance and fossil-fuel industries. After that, I will analyze recent trends in the banking sector such as the divestment movement and climate or green bonds. Last but not least, I will provide business-ethical arguments for the so-called business case for climate change mitigation (and adaptation).