Catalyzing transformative change for climate and biodiversity finance within COP policy discourses

This is a Preprint and has not been peer reviewed. This is version 1 of this Preprint. You must log in to post a comment. There are no comments or no comments have been made public for this article. This is a Preprint and has not been peer reviewed. This is version 1 of this Preprint. Add a Comment You must log in to post a comment. Comments There are no comments or no comments have been made public for this article. Recent outcomes of the Conferences of the Parties (COP) to the UNFCCC and CBD emphasize the need for transformative change to meet global climate and biodiversity targets. Yet climate and biodiversity finance discourses remains dominated by efforts to close ‘funding gaps’, with comparatively little attention to systemic drivers of climate change, nature loss, and social injustice. Here we analyze all UNFCCC COP decision reports between 1995 and 2025, encompassing approximately 1.1 million words of text across 30 reports, and show that finance language consistently focuses on funding mobilization over systemic reforms. We then outline a roadmap for how transformative change can be operationalized for climate and biodiversity finance policy in practice. Specifically, we explore the role of subsidy reforms, financial regulations, policy coherence, debt justice, and equitable access to finance. Together, these interventions can provide a foundation for advancing equitable, transformative change within climate and biodiversity finance policy. https://doi.org/10.32942/X24T1H Environmental Policy, Environmental Studies, Other Political Science Environmental policy, Ecological economics, Nature finance, Debt justice Published: 2026-05-11 08:21 Last Updated: 2026-05-11 08:21 CC BY Attribution 4.0 International Conflict of interest statement: S.L. co-chairs the Technical Advisory Board of Equitable Earth. PHSB is partner at re.green, a forest restoration company that trades carbon credits. NC is the panel member for climate change mitigation on the GEF's independent Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel. DD is an advisor to the restoration company Ponterra. WP works for one of the signatories to the FTFG Cop 26 pledge, and her contribution to this paper does not represent the views of the foundation. S.S. is an investor at Just Climate LLP, and his contribution to this paper does not represent the views of the organization nor does it have any impact on its activities. L.K.W. is an advisor to Plant-for-the-Planet and Green Again Madagascar, reforestation non-profit organizations. Language: English