Policy pathways for green finance in biomass production : the case of Italy

Intermediaries and financial markets are increasingly paying attention towards a more environmentally sustainable economy. The sustainability of related actions go beyond the mere provision of monetary resources. This article investigates the opportunities and challenges of green finance (GF), in order to understand which policies may foster the investment decisions the Italian biomass producers. Based on literature review supported by a survey administered to a pool of experts, our findings allowed the identification of potential policy pathways for the GF diffusion.

Although GF is perceived as an opportunity for achieving environmentally sustainable innovation pathways, it does not actually prevent biomass producers from being "financially constrained" due to institutional and financial criticalities. Our results indicate that policy actions should be built considering the global attention on GF, the biomass sector conditions, the current policy frameworks and the firms internal and external barriers. [Publisher's Text]