IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/bdi/opques/qef_1021_26.html

Corporate sustainable finance in recent years: insights from Italy

Author

Listed:
  • Valentina Nigro

    (Bank of Italy)

  • Sabrina Pastorelli

    (Bank of Italy)

Abstract

This paper investigates corporate sustainable finance in Italy between 2021 and 2024, using firm-level and bank-level data drawn respectively from Banca d'Italia's Survey of Industrial and Service Firms (INVIND) and the Regional Bank Lending Survey (RBLS). In the study, a green investment is defined as a project aimed at improving energy efficiency and/or increasing the use or production of renewable energy. Just over one quarter of firms reported having undertaken such investment over this period, with a strong positive correlation with firm size. Financing relies mainly on internal resources, while bank credit plays a more significant role for smaller firms; the use of market-based instruments remains marginal. The estimates confirm that larger companies are more likely to finance these investments from their own resources than both similarly sized non-green firms and smaller companies undertaking environmentally sustainable projects. The banks surveyed indicate that green loans still account for a limited share of bank credit to companies. This may reflect the difficulties faced by intermediaries in incorporating firms' environmental sustainability objectives into their credit risk assessment models.

Suggested Citation

  • Valentina Nigro & Sabrina Pastorelli, 2026. "Corporate sustainable finance in recent years: insights from Italy," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 1021, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    • Handle: RePEc:bdi:opques:qef_1021_26
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.bancaditalia.it/pubblicazioni/qef/2026-1021/QEF_1021_26.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. David Gilchrist & Jing Yu & Rui Zhong, 2021. "The Limits of Green Finance: A Survey of Literature in the Context of Green Bonds and Green Loans," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-12, January.
    2. Anna Bartocci & Pietro Cova & Valerio Nispi Landi & Andrea Papetti & Massimiliano Pisani, 2024. "Macroeconomic and environmental effects of portfolio decarbonisation strategies," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 874, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    3. Luciano Lavecchia & Jacopo Appodia & Paolo Cantatore & Rita Cappariello & Stefano Di Virgilio & Alberto Felettigh & Andrea Giustini & Valeria Guberti & Danilo Liberati & Giorgio Meucci & Stefano Pierm, 2022. "Data and methods to evaluate climate-related and environmental risks in Italy," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 732, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    4. Caterina Lucarelli & Camilla Mazzoli & Michela Rancan & Sabrina Severini, 2023. "The Impact Of Eu Taxonomy On Corporate Investments," Journal of Financial Management, Markets and Institutions (JFMMI), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 11(01), pages 1-32, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Miklesh Yadav & Nandita Mishra & Shruti Ashok, 2023. "Dynamic connectedness of green bond with financial markets of European countries under OECD economies," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 56(1), pages 609-631, February.
    2. Mário Nuno Mata & Rui Miguel Dantas & João Miguel Rita, 2026. "Mapping the Knowledge Landscape of Sustainable Finance in the Face of Climate Challenges: a Bibliometric Analysis," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 17(2), pages 4140-4174, April.
    3. Alessandro Moro & Andrea Zaghini, 2025. "Cui prodest? The heterogeneous impact of green bonds on companies' ESG score," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 1499, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    4. Jelena Basaric, 2022. "European government green bonds: analysis of yield behaviour determinants," Working Papers Bulletin 11, National Bank of Serbia.
    5. Djimoudjiel Djekonbe & Petre Brezeanu & Ştefan Cristian Gherghina & Mouta Mahamat Djourabi, 2026. "Exploring the Effects of Green Finance on Inclusive Growth: Empirical Evidence From African Countries," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 38(3), pages 553-569, April.
    6. Qingxian Jia, 2023. "The impact of green finance on the level of decarbonization of the economies: An analysis of the United States', China's, and Russia's current agenda," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 110-119, January.
    7. MingCan JI & Xing Zhang, 2024. "RETRACTED ARTICLE: Assessing the Impacts and Mechanisms of Green Bond Financing on the Enhancement of Green Management and Technological Innovation in Environmental Conservation Enterprises," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(3), pages 12709-12750, September.
    8. Fawad Ali & Muhammad Yusuf Amin & Shehzad Khan & Zahoor Ul Haq & Faisal Faisal, 2026. "Transforming financial institutions through green finance: The strategic role of FinTech in OECD Countries," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 6(5), pages 1-27, May.
    9. Fornari, Fabio & Pianeselli, Daniele & Zaghini, Andrea, 2026. "Environmental score and bond pricing: It better be good, it better be green," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    10. Farhat Aziz Lone & Shalini Aggarwal & Sanjeev Jain, 2026. "Retail Investors’ Perception Towards Green Bonds in Advancing Sustainability: Evidence from India," Asia-Pacific Financial Markets, Springer;Japanese Association of Financial Economics and Engineering, vol. 33(1), pages 119-148, March.
    11. Zhu, Haiyang & Chen, Zhen & Xia, Dongrui & Nassani, Abdelmohsen A. & Hameed, Waseem Ul, 2024. "Integrating fintech in natural resource management: Assessing the EKC hypothesis for sustainable development in E7 countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    12. Yahui Chen & Yi An & Zixun Nie & Yuanying Chi & Xinyue Jia, 2025. "Impact of Green Financial Reform on Urban Economic Resilience—A Quasi-Natural Experiment Based on Green Financial Reform and Innovation Pilot Zones," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(15), pages 1-32, July.
    13. Chaofeng Li & Yasir Ahmed Solangi & Sharafat Ali, 2023. "Evaluating the Factors of Green Finance to Achieve Carbon Peak and Carbon Neutrality Targets in China: A Delphi and Fuzzy AHP Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-21, February.
    14. Yayun Ren & Jian Yu & Shuhua Xu & Jiaomei Tang & Chang Zhang, 2023. "Green Finance and Industrial Low-Carbon Transition: Evidence from a Quasi-Natural Experiment in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-17, March.
    15. Bhavesh Kumar & Love Kumar & Avinash Kumar & Ramna Kumari & Uroosa Tagar & Claudio Sassanelli, 2024. "Green finance in circular economy: a literature review," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(7), pages 16419-16459, July.
    16. Zhang, Chaoyu, 2025. "Green bonds and environmental violations in financially constrained environments," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    17. Nickel, Christiane & Kilponen, Juha & Moral-Benito, Enrique & Koester, Gerrit & Ciccarelli, Matteo & Enders, Almira & Holton, Sarah & Landau, Bettina & Venditti, Fabrizio & Bobeica, Elena & Brand, Cla, 2025. "A strategic view on the economic and inflation environment in the euro area," Occasional Paper Series 371, European Central Bank.
    18. Samuel Mutarindwa & Dorothea Schäfer & Andreas Stephan, 2024. "Certification against greenwashing in nascent bond markets: lessons from African ESG bonds," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 14(1), pages 149-173, March.
    19. Di Tommaso, Caterina & Pacelli, Vincenzo & Povia, Maria Melania, 2025. "Green loans and bank risk: Navigating the path to sustainable finance," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    20. Pınar Yardımcı & Cansel Oskay, 2025. "The Impact of Green Finance and Financial Globalization on Environmental Sustainability: Empirical Evidence from Türkiye," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(13), pages 1-26, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
    • D25 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Intertemporal Firm Choice: Investment, Capacity, and Financing
    • Q56 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environment and Development; Environment and Trade; Sustainability; Environmental Accounts and Accounting; Environmental Equity; Population Growth

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bdi:opques:qef_1021_26. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/bdigvit.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.