Towards New Approaches of Understanding the Greening of Capital Markets

Abstract

This chapter combines different approaches to capture the discursive, financial(ized), and political-economic aspects of efforts to green capital markets. To understand the stalling uptake of green bonds, it introduces Cultural Political Economy (CPE), financialization, and Transition Studies as useful approaches to foreground discursive elements in nascent market promotion, the repositioning of the financial sector as a main driver in low-carbon transitions under the so-called Wall Street Consensus, and the political economic bottlenecks a fossil-based economy like South Africa faces.