Bibliometric Analysis of Carbon Finance and Carbon Markets: A Growing Research Area

Figure 1. Framework of the mixed database bibliometric analysis method.

2 Analysis of Carbon Finance and Carbon Market Performance

2.1 Number of Publications

The trend in the number of articles identified by the WoS and Scopus databases related to carbon finance and carbon markets in the past 30 years is shown in Figure 2. From the figure, it can be observed that prior to 2005, the number of publications on carbon finance and carbon markets increased slowly. However, after the Kyoto Protocol came into effect in 2005, with the increased awareness of environmental issues and the focus on sustainability, the number of publications showed a steady upward trend. It is worth noting that, contrary to the slow and steady growth trend before 2015, the number of relevant publications has exponentially increased since 2015, indicating a significant increase in academic interest in carbon finance and carbon markets since the Paris Agreement in 2015.

Furthermore, in 2020, China proposed the 'dual-carbon' goal, leading to a 37% annual growth rate in the number of articles in this field. Increasing research suggests that the study of carbon finance and carbon markets is in a 'growth phase,' with great development potential, and this concept is receiving increasing attention from researchers.