This book offers a comprehensive and timely exploration of financial strategies, instruments, and policies essential for driving the global energy transition toward a net zero future. It provides actionable insights into how innovative financing can accelerate decarbonization, support green technologies, and ensure a just and inclusive energy shift.

Amid the escalating climate crisis and urgent sustainability targets under the Paris Agreement and the UN SDGs, the world is witnessing an unprecedented need for mobilizing capital to transform energy systems. This book brings together global perspectives, empirical evidence, and case studies to address one of the most pressing questions of our time: How can we finance a rapid, equitable, and resilient transition to clean energy?

This book delves into a wide spectrum of topics, including green bonds, carbon markets, blended finance, hydrogen financing, renewable energy investment, energy access in the Global South, FinTech innovations, ESG compliance, and just transition principles. It highlights the role of institutional investors, development finance institutions, and public–private partnerships in closing the investment gap for clean energy infrastructure.

It also addresses region-specific challenges and solutions with comparative insights from Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Europe. Sectoral chapters on hydrogen, mobility, grid storage, and digitalization provide focused analysis of capital flows and emerging investment trends. This book critically examines enabling policies, fiscal tools, risk mitigation strategies, and governance mechanisms that shape sustainable finance practices in energy systems.

Designed for scholars, policymakers, practitioners, development agencies, and finance professionals, this book offers a valuable reference to support strategic planning, climate finance policymaking, and investment decision-making in the pursuit of global sustainability and energy equity. It is especially relevant for researchers and graduate students in sustainability studies, green finance, energy economics, public policy, and international development.

Dr. Vikas Sharma is a professor of finance at Chandigarh University with specialisations in accounting, finance, and organisational studies. His research in behavioural finance and fintech has strengthened his expertise in financial decision-making and governance. With over 18 years of academic and administrative experience, he has developed strong capabilities in teaching, research, and academic leadership. He has served as a visiting professor in Poland and Hungary and as an extraordinary professor at North-West University in South Africa. Dr Sharma has published Q1 and Q2 journal articles, co-edited scholarly volumes, and actively contributes as a reviewer and guest editor for reputed international journals.

Dr. Kiran Yadav is an assistant professor in the Department of Commerce at PGDAV College, University of Delhi, India, with nearly 12 years of teaching experience. She holds a Ph.D. in Management Sciences & Commerce from Maharshi Dayanand University, specializing in the impact of psychological factors on individual investment decisions. She has received a junior research fellowship (JRF) and qualified for the National Eligibility Test (NET). Her research interests include behavioral finance, ESG, corporate governance, green finance, the green economy, climate change, circular economy, and sustainability. She has edited multiple books, published various book chapters and research papers in Scopus-indexed journals, focusing on financial decision-making, sustainability, climate change, and ESG-related topics.

Dr. Rocha, D.Sc., Ph.D., M.Sc., B.Sc., is recognized among the world’s top 1% scientists by Stanford University, USA. He serves as an invited professor at the University of Calabria, Italy, and an honorary professor at Amity University, India. He is the vice-chair and founder of the IEEE SMC Portuguese Chapter and president of the ITMA—Information and Technology Management Association. As an editor of the Information Systems Engineering & Management (ISEM) book series with Springer Nature, he brings extensive expertise in information systems, innovation, and digital transformation. His global academic impact is both profound and far-reaching:
D.Sc., Ph.D., M.Sc., and B.Sc.; World’s 1% Top Scientists by Stanford University, USA; an invited professor, University of Calabria, Italy; honorary professor, Amity University, India; vice-chair and founder of IEEE SMC Portuguese Chapter; president of ITMA—Information and Technology Management Association.

Prof. Dr. Acad. Ashok Vaseashta received a Ph.D. from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, in 1990, followed by Kobe’s post-doctoral fellowship. He was awarded an Honoris Causa doctorate from Riga Technical University, Honorary membership of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova, and a Gold Medal for his leadership in Nanotechnology from the National Polytechnic University of Armenia. Currently, he is an executive director for strategic research with the International Clean Water Institute in Virginia, USA. He served as a professor at Virginia Tech and Marshall University, director of Research at the Institute for Advanced Sciences Convergence and International Clean Water Institute for Norwich University Applied Research Institutes, vice-provost (Rector) for Research in South Carolina, and executive director and chair of the Institutional Review Board at a State University in New Jersey.