Mapping the Nexus: A Bibliometric Review of Sustainable Development Goals in Finance Research

Abstract

Growing corporate accountability demands, shareholder expectations, and regulatory pressures surrounding Environmental, Sustainability and Governance (ESG) factors have created an urgent need to understand the evolving research landscape in this domain. This study provides a comprehensive bibliometric analysis examining the current state and future trajectory of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in achieving Sustainable Finance (SF), while identifying prominent thematic typologies and key research patterns within the field. Drawing from 1,693 documents published in SCOPUS-indexed journals during the COVID-19 pandemic period from 2020 to 2023, the analysis was conducted using Biblioshiny and RStudio, incorporating co-citation networks, keyword occurrence maps, thematic maps, and descriptive statistics to identify prolific authors, influential sources, and highly cited countries. The findings reveal two central pillars in evaluating ESG effectiveness, namely SDG achievement and Sustainable Finance stability, with thematic mapping further uncovering basic, motor, niche, and declining research themes that chart a clear roadmap for future research directions. Notably, the COVID-19 era heightened global awareness of preparedness and vigilance toward future threats, reinforcing the urgency of strengthening ESG frameworks in pursuit of SDG objectives supported by stable Sustainable Finance mechanisms. The study offers a holistic evidence-based framework valuable to regulators, investors, and emerging scholars by uniquely mapping the progression from SDG aspirations toward Sustainable Finance realization, drawing exclusively from high-ranking peer-reviewed journal publications and contributing meaningfully to the existing body of literature on sustainable development and ESG research.