Responsible Lending Policy of Green Investments in the Energy Sector in Poland

Abstract

The paper concerns the issue of responsible involvement of commercial banks in Poland in green financing of the energy sector. The main reason for undertaking this topic is the observed increased interest of domestic banks in green financing of investments on the energy market in Poland. Therefore, the main objective are to explore the determinants of changes in the level and structure of bank loans under the influence of green investments in the energy sector in Poland. The article verifies the research hypothesis which assumes that an increase in financing green investments by bank loans in the energy market in Poland requires strengthening the synergy of responsible financing of sustainable development of the economy. For this purpose, a two-stage concept of the empirical research was adopted. On the first stage, questionnaire surveys were conducted among the largest Polish commercial banks to examine the respondents’ acceptance degree of the concept of sustainable financing and greening the loan portfolio. On the second stage, case studies were analyzed along with the analysis of selected secondary quantitative data. It was proven that commercial banks in Poland increase their commitment to sustainable financing, which is observed in the sectorally progressing process of “greening” the credit offer. There is also a noticeable change in their approach to social responsibility, especially in the context of the energy market, where financing of traditional, ecologically harmful projects is still dominant. However, this trend is slowly being reversed, towards supporting investments in the area of modern, environmentally-friendly energy solutions. However, “greening” of loan portfolios in the native banking sector requires a responsible lending policy based on various complex business decisions. Increasing their pro-ecological awareness of financing the economy is only a prerequisite, albeit inadequate, of further energy transformation in Poland.

The Effect of Monetary Policy and Private Investment on Green Finance: Evidence from Hungary

“…Hence the monetary policy can affect this investment decision by influencing interest rates. The finding of this variable is consistent with the study established by (Pyka and Nocon 2021).…”

“…The result of the regression analysis of the study implies that monetary policy, as measured by interest rates and the broad money supply, has a mixed effect on the level of green financing. Interest rates, in particular, have a negative and significant relationship with green finance in both the long-and short-run (Pyka and Nocon 2021). However, a broad money supply has a positive but insignificant relationship with green finance in the long run.…”

“…The financing tools such as green bonds and climate bonds were introduced for funding environmentally beneficial initiatives (Tolliver et al 2020). As many academic writers have pointed out (Akomea-Frimpong et al 2021;Chang et al 2021;Pyka and Nocon 2021;Aller et al 2018;Baloch et al 2018;Bovari et al 2020;Lamperti et al 2021), however, the financial gap on green investment is still huge in amount.…”

“…The lending rate is used as the first proxy to measure monetary policies in this study. The rate charged by lenders on the amount lent for a specific period is known as the lending rate (Pyka and Nocon 2021). The lending interest rate cap has an impact on the ability of green finance to grow.…”

Ecologically Responsible Entrepreneurship and Its Contribution to the Green Economy’s Sustainable Development: Financial Risk Management Prospects

“…Thus, when studying sustainable development, it is expedient to pay special attention to the green economy. In modern economic practice, this is reflected in the fact that ecological responsibility is distinguished as a special direction of corporate social responsibility, which supports the establishment and development of the green economy (Pyka and Noco ń 2021;Jonsdottir et al 2021). Due to this, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and crisis on the financial risks of the green economy is not defined (which is a research gap).…”