Finance: Capitalizing the Cooperative Movement

This chapter sketches the pathways to sustainable development and deep decarbonization of finance, focusing on banks. It provides a case study of a cooperative exemplar to demonstrate how different aspects of the transition are already under way. The case study includes an overview of the cooperative's history, type, and economic sector; context based on its industry and country; best practices in environmental sustainability; and its governance and cooperative legal structure. The chapter explores the relationship between environmental sustainability and banking, covering the banks' roles in the global system that has produced climate disruption. It mentions how bank finance determines whether to take the path of usual business or the path of the new economy and sustainable development.