Abstract
The field of sustainable finance could benefit from more meaningful engagement with young people, who offer a unique perspective and have a vested interest in addressing climate change and other global issues that will shape their future. In this post-qualitative study, three young people document what they see, hear, and experience as they attend a symposium for experts on sustainable finance and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing. These raw tellings are used in the cocreation of a youth sustainable finance assemblage and analysis tool, which the young people then apply to the Return on Sustainable Investment (ROSI™) methodology. Relationality, reflexivity, interconnectedness, longer time horizons, and accountability emerge as opportunities for transformation in sustainable finance, and the young people specifically identify a need for public engagement, certification and incentive programs, and regulatory standards to complement investment in sustainable development without exacerbating inequality and environmental degradation. The article concludes with an assessment of the input, throughput, and output legitimacy of this approach to youth engagement, and it suggests future research to meaningfully include young people–for the benefit all participants and stakeholders–in multilateral forums on sustainable finance.
Date Received
December 2, 2025
Date Revised
December 20, 2025
Date Accepted
December 26, 2025
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Guerette, Allison
(2025)
"Engaging Young People in Sustainable Finance: Opening Up Opportunities for Transformation,"
Markets, Globalization & Development Review:
Vol. 10:
No.
4, Article 2.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/mgdr/vol10/iss4/2
Included in
Anthropology Commons, Development Studies Commons, Economics Commons, Environmental Studies Commons, Finance and Financial Management Commons, Marketing Commons, Other Business Commons, Sociology Commons
Author Bio
Allison Guerette, Ph.D., leads the sustainability program at Phillips Academy Andover and was previously a climate and energy policy analyst for the Clean Air Association of the Northeast and mid-Atlantic States. Allison has a Ph.D. in Sustainability Education from Prescott College and an M.P.A in Environmental Science and Policy from the School for International and Public Affairs at Columbia University. Additional works are available at: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-7946-530.