What does it actually mean to “finance” a transformation?

When we talk about “financing” in everyday language, most people think of private money cycles and loans. For a long time, very similar ideas prevailed when it came to financing the transformation to a sustainable economy and society. The term “sustainable finance” stood for a view that placed great trust in market mechanisms and private-sector initiative. Unfortunately, the promises made by private financial market players to raise the funds necessary for the transformation have proven to be empty words. As a result, national and supranational actors have increasingly stepped into the breach. However, their promises have also been empty words so far, compared to the sums required. Why have all promises to raise a certain amount of money to finance the transformation so far proved to be empty words? This question was explored at the conference “Financial Policy for Transformation,” which took place from March 10 to 12, 2025, at the Evangelische Akademie Tutzing. The contributions presented there sparked intense discussions and debates among the nearly 100 participants. 

Some of them can be found below.

 

The organisers Uli Klüh and Richard Sturn introduced the topic before the conference. You can read the blog post ‘Empty words: The “financing” of the sustainability transformation as a political problem’ here.