Financing the transformation needed to respond to today’s polycrisis is grossly inadequate in scale and the processes to connect finance to systemic change work are almost non-existent. Current approaches to financing – philanthropic, governmental and private – are largely unaligned with the needs associated with financing transformational solutions. The CoP27 President’s final statement called for “a transformation of the financial system and its structures and processes.”1 In short, the financing systems themselves require deep systemic change.2
In response to this need, thought and practice innovators are creating fundamentally new approaches to financing systemic transformation. Today, they can be considered an emerging new field of finance and a strategy to fundamentally change the core logics of finance. They reflect the understanding that transforming a powerful system cannot be done through piecemeal strategies. History demonstrates that such an approach is easily co-opted. Rather, successful new systems are required that can displace the traditional powerhouses.
This panel will provide insight into the development of the field and its distinctive qualities.