Authors: Dr. Kanchan G. Rajput, Dr. Sathyanarayana Gardasu, and Dr. Amit Saha

ISBN: 978-81-17787-08-3

DOI: https://doi.org/10.59646/862

Date of Publication: October 26, 2026

Preface

Sustainable finance and ESG investing have moved, over the course of little more than a decade, from a specialised, niche corner of the financial industry to a mainstream consideration shaping how banks lend, how mutual funds invest, how companies report, and how regulators; in India and worldwide; design the rules governing capital markets. This book provides an undergraduate introduction to this rapidly evolving field, with a deliberate and sustained emphasis on the Indian experience, alongside the global frameworks, instruments, and debates that any serious student of the subject must understand.

The book is organised into five chapters, each built around a common structure: Learning Objectives set out at the start of each chapter; a main body of text that develops each topic with the analytical depth expected of a university-level course, supported throughout by worked illustrations, comparison tables, and original diagrams; a rich set of case studies; both the Indian case studies, perspectives, and capstone case study specified in the course outline this book is built around, and a series of additional global and Indian case study boxes woven through each chapter to connect concept to real-world practice; and, at the close of each chapter, a Chapter Summary, a list of Key Terms, Review Questions, and a set of Multiple Choice Questions with an answer key.

Chapter 1 lays the conceptual foundation; the meaning and evolution of sustainable finance, the triple bottom line, the Sustainable Development Goals, and the principles of responsible investment. Chapter 2 examines ESG frameworks and responsible investing in depth, including the major global standards (UN PRI, GRI, SASB, TCFD, and the ISSB) and India’s own BRSR disclosure regime. Chapter 3 turns to the instruments and markets through which sustainable finance is actually put into practice; green, social, sustainability, and sustainability-linked bonds, impact investing, and climate finance. Chapter 4 examines ESG risk management from the perspective of investors, companies, and; with particular emphasis; banks, including climate scenario analysis and sustainable banking practice. Chapter 5 looks to the future: FinTech’s growing role in ESG analysis, the evolving global and Indian regulatory landscape, the persistent challenges of greenwashing and data inconsistency, and emerging concepts including transition finance, nature-based finance, and just transition; closing with a capstone case study asking whether India can become a global leader in this fast-moving field.

Chapter 1 lays the conceptual foundation; the meaning and evolution of sustainable finance, the triple bottom line, the Sustainable Development Goals, and the principles of responsible investment. Chapter 2 examines ESG frameworks and responsible investing in depth, including the major global standards (UN PRI, GRI, SASB, TCFD, and the ISSB) and India’s own BRSR disclosure regime. Chapter 3 turns to the instruments and markets through which sustainable finance is actually put into practice; green, social, sustainability, and sustainability-linked bonds, impact investing, and climate finance. Chapter 4 examines ESG risk management from the perspective of investors, companies, and; with particular emphasis; banks, including climate scenario analysis and sustainable banking practice. Chapter 5 looks to the future: FinTech’s growing role in ESG analysis, the evolving global and Indian regulatory landscape, the persistent challenges of greenwashing and data inconsistency, and emerging concepts including transition finance, nature-based finance, and just transition; closing with a capstone case study asking whether India can become a global leader in this fast-moving field. Chapter 6 consolidates seven detailed, extended case studies; spanning India’s sovereign green bond programme, the Adani Group governance controversy, a major global asset manager’s greenwashing enforcement action, Suzlon Energy, Reliance Industries, Patagonia, and the voluntary carbon market integrity debate; providing students with an opportunity to apply the analytical frameworks built across the preceding chapters to substantial, real-world episodes. Chapter 7 turns to practical application, surveying career pathways in sustainable finance, the data toolkit practising analysts rely upon, a structured seven-step methodology for independent ESG company assessment, and the professional and ethical responsibilities the field demands. Chapter 8 closes the book’s main body with a comparative regional survey; examining China, the Middle East, and Africa alongside the United States, European Union, and India discussed throughout the earlier chapters; to situate India’s own sustainable finance trajectory within its broader global context.

This book also includes an extensive set of appendices; a glossary of key terms, a comparison table of major global ESG frameworks, a full reference to the Sustainable Development Goals, a timeline of major global and Indian sustainable finance milestones, a compendium of worked numerical problems, a comprehensive descriptive question bank, a case study evaluation rubric, model answer guidance for chapter review questions, and a concluding statistical almanac of current sustainable finance data; intended as a lasting reference resource for students well beyond the classroom.

How to use this book. Instructors adopting this text for a single- semester undergraduate or postgraduate course may find it convenient to treat Chapters 1–5 as the primary, sequential course spine, with Chapter 6’s case studies woven into the relevant weeks of that sequence (for instance, introducing the Adani Group case alongside Chapter 4’s governance risk material, or the sovereign green bond case alongside Chapter 3’s green bond material) rather than necessarily reserved for the end of the course. Chapter 7 is particularly well suited to a concluding careers-and-application session, or as pre-reading ahead of a capstone project or internship placement, while Chapter 8’s comparative regional material can be used either as a standalone concluding session or woven selectively into earlier chapters wherever a comparative, non-Indian illustration is pedagogically useful. Students working independently are encouraged to attempt the review questions, multiple choice questions, and worked numerical illustrations at the end of each chapter before consulting the model answer guidance provided in Appendix I, using that appendix to check and consolidate their own understanding rather than as a substitute for first attempting the material independently.

A note on data currency. Wherever this book cites specific figures; market sizes, regulatory timelines, institutional data; these reflect the prevailing position at the time of writing (mid-2026) and should be treated as illustrative of orders of magnitude and general relationships, since this is a fast-moving field in which specific figures and even specific regulatory requirements continue to evolve. Students undertaking assignments, research projects, or professional work requiring precise, current figures should always verify against the most recent primary-source data from the relevant regulator, standard-setter, or market data provider referenced throughout this book, rather than relying solely on the figures presented here.