SUSTAINABLE FINANCE – A WAY TO IMPROVE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY. THE ROMANIAN EXPERIENCE

Abstract

Sustainable finance is a concept that refers not only to environmental problems, but also to social objectives such as those social goals included in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Summarizing, it refers to societal impact. In literature, this term - societal impact – is used with the meaning of social, environmental, medical or cultural impact [Rizzi F. et al., 2018; EVPA Report, 2017]. The current challenges regarding the future development of the social finance market refer to the opacity of its conceptual bases. For this reason, this article aims, among other things, to clarify the basic concepts and instruments of social finance and their continuously developing market, analyzing the literature in the field. Thus, first of all, we analyze the structuration processes that take place in social finance and the institutional actors involved. Also, a conceptual delimitation of social investments and the way in which they are selected is necessary. Last but not least, reviewing the literature, this article addresses to the analysis of the financial instruments (FI) used on the social finance market and their impact, also addressing the issue of the usefulness of tailored finance of a social purpose organization. Regarding the experience on the social finance market in Romania, this article aims a static and dynamic analysis of the financial instruments used, as well as of the entities in the Romanian social economy, proposing solutions to improve public policies in terms of sustainable finance and social economy from our country.