The European Central Bank as a Sustainability Role Model

This book examines selected actions and investments of the European Central Bank (ECB) from a climate and sustainability standpoint. Shedding new light on the topic from various angles ethical, philosophical, political, economical and legal it situates sustainability mainstreaming in the finance and investment field at all levels. The former ECB President Mario Draghi once said that he considered sustainable development and an intact environment to be human rights, and therefore enshrined in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. The acting ECB President Christine Lagarde added that the future path for the climate is uncertain, but it would remain within our power to influence it. However, with all that in mind the ECBs policy of buying assets as securities is often questionable. This volume analyzes these actions in connection with sustainability, and puts forward practical recommendations for improving the ECBs investment strategy on its way creating a sustainable financial market.

Harald J. Bolsinger is the former Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration at the FHWS University of Applied Sciences Wurzburg-Schweinfurt, Germany. He gained extensive practical experience in corporate customer care and sales in the cooperative banking sector, as an economic promoter for the city of Nuremberg, Germany, and in independent management consultancy. He is active in numerous initiatives to promote sustainable corporate governance, corporate responsibility, and Christian values in business and academic life. He has taught at various universities, and his current focus is chiefly on sustainable corporate management and value management, as well as business ethics issues. In the Research Group Finance and Economy of the Weltethos Institute at the University of Tübingen he is Member of the Board (Director Regulatory Policy).

Johannes Hofmann was in charge of developing the Frankfurt-Hohenheimer catalogue, which provides with the mostcomprehensive criteria for ethical investments with over 800 evaluation criteria the basis for assigning sustainability ratings to many companies worldwide. He is Chairman of the Founding Board of the Research Group Finance and Economy of the Weltethos Institute at the University of Tübingen.

Bernd Villhauer is Managing Director of the Global Ethic Institute (WEIT) at the University of Tübingen, Germany, and has taught at the Universities of Karlsruhe, Jena, Darmstadt and Tübingen. His main research interests are in cultural and media science issues, as well as theoretical and practical philosophy and economics. He is the co-founder of the Institute for Philosophy of Practice in Darmstadt, Germany; Director of the Good Governance Lab at the European School of Governance (EUSG). In the Research Group Finance and Economy of the Weltethos Institute at the University of Tübingen he is Member of the Board (Director Research Organization).

Where do we stand when it comes to Sustainable Financial Markets?.- Ethical Standards beyond Monetary Policy: Approaches to a Philosophical Foundation.- Fundamental rights in the core business of the ECB: No issue?! Experience with the EU petition 429/2017.- On the role of the ECB in sustainable finance.- Legal approaches to encouraging the ECB to comply with human rights aspects when establishing the list of marketable assets.- Central Banks in Europe: On the Road to more Sustainability.