Reframing Finance in a Warming World: The Role of Accounting, Banking, and Capital Markets

Submissions open 1st April 2026

Introduction

This Special Issue aims to investigate how climate change is reshaping accounting, banking, and finance, emphasizing both risks and opportunities for organizations and markets. Specifically, it seeks to explore how disclosure practices, regulatory frameworks, and innovative financial instruments can enhance transparency, comparability, and resilience. By addressing the role of banks as key intermediaries, the integration of climate risks into financial reporting, and the development of sustainable investment strategies, the Special Issue intends to foster a deeper understanding of the mechanisms through which climate considerations influence decision-making. To achieve this, it welcomes both theoretical and empirical contributions adopting interdisciplinary perspectives, and encourages the use of diverse methodologies, ranging from case studies and content analysis to econometric and experimental approaches.

The originality of this Special Issue lies in its integrated focus on accounting, banking, and finance under the lens of climate change, three domains often examined separately. While prior studies have mainly concentrated on single dimensions, such as disclosure practices, financial stability, or sustainable investment, this Special Issue aims to bridge these perspectives, highlighting their interconnections and mutual influences. In this regard, it addresses a crucial research gap: the need for a comprehensive understanding of how climate risks and opportunities simultaneously affect reporting, intermediation, and capital allocation. Moreover, the Special Issue will extend the debate beyond compliance, considering how innovative practices, governance mechanisms, and market instruments contribute to resilience and competitiveness in a low-carbon economy. Its interdisciplinary scope and methodological openness will offer fresh insights for scholars and practitioners, while also providing regulators and policymakers with evidence-based knowledge to design more effective and coordinated responses.

The topicality of this Special Issue is grounded in the growing urgency of climate change and its profound implications for markets and society. Recent literature highlights the financial sector’s exposure to climate risks (Battiston et al., 2021; Raimo et al., 2025) and the pivotal role of disclosure in reducing information asymmetries and greenwashing (Ilhan et al., 2023). Regulatory initiatives such as the CSRD, ESRS, and TCFD (Demaria and Rigot, 2021) further underline the demand for transparent, comparable, and decision-useful climate information. At the same time, central banks and supervisors increasingly promote climate stress testing (Campiglio et al., 2018), while sustainable finance instruments such as green bonds and climate funds expand rapidly (Stroebel and Wurgler, 2021). These developments confirm the societal and academic relevance of exploring how accounting, banking, and finance are being reshaped by climate change. This Special Issue provides timely evidence and fosters interdisciplinary dialogue to address this pressing challenge.  

List of topic areas

1. Climate-related disclosure and sustainability reporting: frameworks, standards, and practices to enhance transparency and comparability. 
2. Banking and climate risk management: assessing exposures in lending, investment, and funding, and developing climate-related products. 
3. Regulation and supervision: stress testing, scenario analysis, and policy initiatives to capture systemic vulnerabilities. 
4. Financial innovation for the transition: green bonds, transition finance, blended finance, and other instruments to support low-carbon development. 
5. Investment and market implications: ESG integration, climate risk pricing, and strategic responses to strengthen resilience and long-term value.

Submission Information

Submissions are made using ScholarOne Manuscripts. Registration and access are available (from 1 April 2026) at: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ijccsm 
Author guidelines must be strictly followed. Please see: https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/journal/ijccsm 
Authors should select (from the drop-down menu) the special issue title at the appropriate step in the submission process, i.e. in response to "Please select the issue you are submitting to".
Submitted articles must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication anywhere else while under review for this journal.

Key dates

Open date for submissions - 1 April 2026
Deadline for paper submission - 31 July 2026