Climate Obstruction in Finance and Banking

Financial innovations for climate justice have been constrained by pervasive climate obstruction in finance, banking and in the field of economics. Climate obstruction refers to intentional efforts to deny the severity of the climate crisis or to slow or to block policies or actions that would reduce the severity of climate instability. This paper first reviews the range of potential financial innovations for climate justice including those pertaining to central banking. Then the paper explores how these innovations are being obstructed by powerful financial actors, including some central bankers and many mainstream economists. We argue that climate obstruction is manifested through simplistic narratives and narrow framings often emanating from the field of economics. A critical element of this is the attempt to minimize and downplay the threat of economic and financial instability associated with climate disruptions. A typology of dominant narratives that prevent and delay financial innovations for climate justice is proposed. Revealing climate obstruction within the financial sector is an important step in the paradigm shift that is required to transform the economy for climate justice.