This paper argues that certain erroneous premises upon which the mainstream finance paradigm is based are a structural cause of greenwashing. By scrutinizing the metatheoretical hypotheses of this paradigm through a critical realist lens, we aim to show that it rests upon on tacit representations that impose a distorted view of financial ‘knowledge’, financial systems, the Earth System, and society. This ontological bias leads to fallacious research questions, biased methodologies, and has even generated ill-advised policies that are conducive to the financialization of nature. We then put forth that critical realism could offer realistic metatheoretical foundations for the development of a new ecological finance paradigm.

本文认为，主流金融范式所依据的某些错误前提是洗绿的结构性原因。通过用批判现实主义的视角审视这一范式的元理论假设，我们的目的是表明，它依赖于对金融“知识”、金融体系、地球系统和社会施加扭曲观点的默认表述。这种本体论偏见导致了错误的研究问题、有偏见的方法论，甚至产生了有利于自然金融化的不明智的政策。然后我们提出批判现实主义可以为新的生态金融范式的发展提供现实的元理论基础。