Table 3.

Top cited articles which have tried to define the term without any background support.

S.No.	Authors	Journal	Citations	Green finance Definition
1.	[55]	Energy Procedia	466	“green finance is an innovative financial pattern aimed at the environmental protection and the accomplishment of sustainable utilization of resources.”
2.	[56]	Environmental Science and Ecotechnology	224	“green finance refers to financial investments targeted at environmental protection initiatives.”
3.	[57]	Resources Policy	164	“green finance refers to the way of resource allocation to environmental pollution control, aiming to reduce the environmental damage of enterprise operation and realize sustainable development.”
4.	[58]	SSRN Electronic Journal	136	“green finance is defined as comprising all forms of investment or lending that consider environmental effect and enhance environmental sustainability.”
5.	[59]	Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja	134	“green finance refers to investment making in the environmental and social friendly projects that are carried out by commercial entities both on the private or state level.”
6.	[60]	Sustainability	126	“green finance can be defined as the whole of “financial investments flowing into sustainable development projects and initiatives, environmental products, and policies that encourage the development of a more sustainable economy.” Accordingly, green finance is not limited to climate finance (i.e. the set of financial tools specifically aimed at mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to climate change), but includes all financial products and services aimed at a wider range of environmental objectives, such as industrial pollution control and water, sanitation and biodiversity protection.”
7.	[61]	Energy Economics	118	“green finance refers to financial services provided for economic activities that are supportive of environment improvement, climate change mitigation and more efficient resource utilization”
8.	[62]	Energy Policy	94	“green finance refers to the behavior of financial institutions to actively support the financing of energy conservation and environmental protection projects.”
9.	[63]	Energy Policy	91	“In general, green finance refers to the finance policy instrument providing concessional finance for project investment and operation in the fields of environmental protection, energy conservation, renewable energy, green transportation and building.”
10.	[64]	Resources Policy	75	“green finance means that with deterioration from environmental pollution, the government adopts the concept of environmental protection by enacting policies, introducing operating guidelines for financial institutions, and supporting the development of green enterprises by providing them with loans and subsidies and restricting the development of high-polluting enterprises to achieve the goal of reducing environmental pollution.”