The Rise of Carbon Finance: A Bibliometric Perspective

ABSTRACT Carbon finance has emerged as a critical mechanism for mobilizing capital toward climate change mitigation and supporting the transition to low‐carbon economies. However, its intellectual development remains fragmented across environmental economics, financial economics, sustainability, and climate policy. This study provides a comprehensive bibliometric assessment of carbon finance research, examining its growth trajectory, intellectual structure, collaboration patterns, thematic evolution, and emerging research frontiers. Using 1610 Scopus‐indexed publications from 1993 to 2026, the study integrates performance analysis, citation impact, science mapping, network analysis, thematic visualization, Bradford's law, Lotka's law, journal quality indicators, and life cycle analysis. The findings reveal substantial growth, particularly following the Paris Agreement, alongside a concentrated intellectual structure in which China leads publication productivity, whereas the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan demonstrate strong citation influence. Collaboration networks indicate increasing internationalization, although research remains concentrated among a limited number of authors and institutions. Thematic evolution demonstrates a shift from carbon markets, emissions trading, and environmental regulation toward green finance, sustainable investment, climate‐related financial risk, renewable‐energy financing, ESG integration, and digital finance. The study contributes by extending the temporal coverage of previous bibliometric reviews, integrating multiple analytical approaches, and explicitly tracing the progressive financialization of carbon finance. It reconciles divergent patterns in productivity, citation influence, collaboration, and development across countries and disciplines. By identifying structural patterns, emerging themes, and underexplored research frontiers, the study provides an evidence‐based agenda for future research and informs policymakers, standard‐setters, investors, and practitioners seeking to advance sustainable financial systems and climate transition strategies.