‘Green finance’ should not repeat mistakes of Energiewende

Gearing the financial system towards sustainable or ’green‘ investment is increasingly becoming part of Germany’s climate protection policies, but politicians should be wary not to repeat the mistakes made in the country’s energy transition legislation, Hermannus Pfeiffer writes in an opinion piece in Die Welt. Projects like the Green Finance Cluster in Germany’s financial centre Frankfurt am Main show that sustainable banking is beginning to gain a foothold in the country’s financial system, and alongside the institutional investors, such as churches or labour unions, more and more private investors seek to invest their money in so-called green bonds, Pfeiffer says. However, many companies and industry groups that endorse the shift to sustainable investment, such as Deutsche Bank, Siemens, or the industry association VDMA, are primarily interested in maximising their profits this way, he argues. Policymakers should ensure that companies subscribe to green projects not only “if there are lucrative deals and billions in state money” in sight, he says.

Read the article in German here.