How technology is enhancing green finance and supporting ESG efforts


In recent years, the visible impacts of climate change have become undeniable, urging the need for urgent, sustainable actions. The necessity to safeguard the planet has never been more pressing.
The financial sector has responded with determination, making significant strides to support green finance initiatives while also adopting technologies that reduce environmental footprints within everyday financial practices.
Summary
- Green finance and ESG standards are reshaping investment strategies, with growing support for sustainable, socially responsible projects.
- Fintech is advancing ESG efforts through data analytics, sustainable lending, and tools that direct capital to impactful, eco-friendly ventures.
- Cloud-native technologies help reduce energy use and emissions, making them essential to financial institutions’ net-zero and ESG strategies.
Understand how the financial sector is embracing green finance and technology to drive sustainability and build a more resilient future.
What is Green Finance?
At its core, green finance focuses on funding projects that aim to benefit the environment, encourage social responsibility, and foster economic development. It includes various financial tools such as loans, investments, and other debt mechanisms designed to support environmentally beneficial projects or enhance the sustainability of existing initiatives.
In recent years, there has been a noticeable shift in the financial market, with a growing focus on directing resources toward small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that are leading green innovations. For example, the European Investment Bank (EIB) allocated €3.3 billion in funding for SMEs in 2020, primarily targeting clean energy, the circular economy, and sustainable transport projects. (1)
However, green finance is not solely about investment in environmental projects. Businesses must also address their environmental and social impacts, a responsibility emphasized by the rise of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) standards.
Environmental, Social, and Governance Awakening.
ESG refers to a framework used by investors to evaluate the sustainability and ethical impact of a company. This approach allows for more informed investment decisions based on how well a company aligns with environmental, social, and governance principles. In recent years, ESG considerations have increasingly become a key component of corporate agendas.
The massive inflow of investments in ESG initiatives reflects its growing importance. Global sustainable investments have now surpassed $30 trillion, representing a 68% increase since 2014 and a tenfold growth since 2004. (4)
How is fintech promoting sustainability and enabling ESG?
Fintech (financial technology) is at the forefront of the sustainability movement, playing a crucial role in both green finance and the advancement of ESG goals. One of the ways fintech companies are driving sustainability is by leveraging technology to provide ESG data and analytics. This helps investors and lenders make more informed decisions, enabling them to direct capital to projects that are not only green but also financially rewarding.
Moreover, fintech firms are creating new investment vehicles that align with ESG principles, such as green bonds, sustainable lending, and social impact funds, which specifically target sustainable ventures, particularly those led by SMEs and entrepreneurs.
Cloud adoption: a step towards sustainability
Another way technology is reshaping the financial sector is through the widespread adoption of cloud technologies. Public cloud migrations have been shown to deliver significant benefits, including reducing overall costs by 30-40% (2), while also promoting sustainability.
Cloud-native SaaS solutions, for instance, help reduce the need for energy-intensive on-premises infrastructure, ultimately lowering energy consumption and carbon emissions. Financial institutions—ranging from lenders to neo-banks and even traditional banks—are increasingly turning to cloud-native software as part of their efforts to achieve net-zero emissions.
For instance, migrating workloads to Microsoft Azure has enabled financial services to decrease their carbon footprint by as much as 98%. (3)
How Akkuro Core Banking supports ESG goals
At Akkuro, we are acutely aware of the urgent challenge posed by climate change.
In response, our cloud-native core banking platform has been carefully designed with sustainability in mind. By using modern technologies and principles that prioritize energy efficiency and resource optimization, our platform significantly reduces carbon emissions compared to traditional on-premises computing solutions.
We are fully committed to providing our clients with a cutting-edge SaaS platform that not only supports the most innovative financial practices but also plays a pivotal role in advancing sustainable finance. Together, we can create a greener, more sustainable future.
Feel free to get in touch to talk about accelerating Green Finance.
Reference:

- Core Banking
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