Sustainable finance is increasingly posited as a crucial lever to drive the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), yet evidence of?its causal development impacts is disjointed and heavily skewed towards developed countries. This review synthesises extant research to clarify how, where and through which mechanisms sustainable finance contributes to SDG outcomes. The article presents a systematic?literature review of 77 peer-reviewed articles published between 2015 and 2025, considered from the point of view of the Theory–Context–Characteristics–Methodology (TCCM) framework. The review integrates theoretical mapping, empirical pattern identification and methodological assessment to derive an integrative explanatory framework. The literature is dominated by stakeholder, institutional and legitimacy theories, indicating theoretical pluralism but limited causal integration. Empirical evidence is heavily skewed towards environmental SDGs (7, 11, 12, 13, 15) and economic growth outcomes (8, 9, 17), while social SDGs (1, 3, 4, 5, 10, 16) remain significantly underexamined. Methodologically, panel-data econometrics and systematic reviews prevail, strengthening causal inference for environmental and financial outcomes but offering limited insight into social development pathways. Geographic concentration in developed economies persists despite larger SDG financing gaps in developing regions. Synthesising these findings, the study proposes a Strategy Tripod Framework, positioning SDG impact at the intersection of institutional design, resource mobilisation and cultural legitimacy, mediated by innovation adoption, financing capability and organisational credibility. This review advances the literature by offering an integrated causal framework explaining uneven SDG outcomes of sustainable finance and highlighting critical gaps in social SDG financing, legitimacy mechanisms and developing-economy contexts. It underscores that sustainable finance is necessary but insufficient for SDG achievement without complementary institutional strengthening and equitable capital reallocation.

Sustainable finance, SDGs, ESG, green finance, TCCM framework, Strategy Tripod, systematic literature review

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