Rising tides, rising funds: Floods and climate mitigation campaigns in equity crowdfunding

Climate change presents an urgent global challenge, increasing the frequency of extreme weather events. This paper contributes to sustainability research by examining the impact of floods on local equity crowdfunding activity in Italy from 2014 to 2023. Our findings reveal that floods significantly increase the probability of launching crowdfunding campaigns focused on climate mitigation initiatives in affected areas. These campaigns raise higher amounts of capital compared to those in unaffected regions. CEM matching confirms the validity of these findings. Overall, this study highlights how localized climate-related shocks influence entrepreneurial and investor behavior, shedding light on the potential of equity crowdfunding to support sustainability and climate resilience efforts.