KEY TAKEAWAYS 

• Finance is a political choice, not just a technical exercise. 

• Rights-based finance delivers fairer, effective, and more lasting outcomes.  

• Redirecting existing harmful flows is as important as raising new funds 

When we talk about financing the response to climate change and biodiversity loss, the discussion often turns to numbers; how much is being pledged, how much is being spent, how big the gap remains. But as became clear during a recent Paris Committee on Capacity-building Network (PCCB) webinar, finance is never just about figures. It reflects the choices we make about what, who and, how we value. 

The politics of finance 

At the heart of the conversation was an uncomfortable truth: the current global finance system tends to reinforce inequality rather than redress it. Wealth and decision-making power remain concentrated in the hands of a few, while communities that protect ecosystems and livelihoods are often last in line for support. 

Public finance for climate and biodiversity is shrinking. Countries across the global majority face mounting debt and limited fiscal space, leaving little room for long-term investments in resilience. Private and market-based mechanisms, meanwhile, have delivered uneven results, and sometimes entrench exclusion rather than enabling participation. But to fix the finance gap isn’t just about finding more money; it’s about changing the systems and structures that decide where money goes and why. 

As such, the webinar – co-hosted by CDKN, Swedbio, Soka Gakkai International, and the Global Youth Biodiversity Network– sought to explore how rights-based approaches could reshape the way finance works, and who it works for.  

Centred on rights and relationships 

Throughout the session, speakers and participants returned to one recurring theme: the power of human rights principles to make finance fairer and more effective. 

Rights-based finance is not an abstract ideal. It’s about embedding participation, accountability and equity into every decision about where and how resources flow. When communities have a real say – when their consent, knowledge and priorities are at the centre – projects are more sustainable, trusted and durable. In this light, finance can be a tool for empowerment when it recognises rights as the starting point, not as an afterthought. 

This principle is perhaps most visible in the case of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, whose stewardship of biodiversity is widely recognised but rarely reflected in financial flows. Participants urged a move away from the language of ‘beneficiaries’ toward seeing these groups as rightsholders and partners in shaping decision-making systems that affect them. Doing so requires not only political will, but a new financial architecture that enables direct access, secures tenure rights, and supports territorial governance as a foundation for resilience. 

Redirecting the flow and opening-up spaces 

If rights-based finance is one side of the coin, the other is how to use existing resources more wisely. Much of today’s global finance continues to support fossil fuels, deforestation, and extractive industries, dwarfing investments in conservation or climate adaptation. Redirecting these harmful flows is just as critical as mobilising new ones – a point that was repeatedly elevated during the webinar. 

Grant-based mechanisms were highlighted as essential steps to address historical inequalities and prevent the growth of unsustainable debt in Global South countries. Debt restructuring was also identified as a key step to expand fiscal space and enable countries to pursue climate adaptation and biodiversity goals on their own terms. By prioritising the quality – not only the quantity – of financial flows, a more just and sustainable system can begin to emerge. 

This shift in perspective reframes finance from a purely technical exercise to a political one; to a space where justice, equity, and inclusion can be built or undermined with every decision. 

Transforming systems, not just projects 

By the close of the PCCB webinar, it can be argued that a consensus had formed: incremental adjustments will not deliver the change the world needs. Transformative change means rethinking the rules of the financial system itself; how resources are raised, who controls them, and how success is defined. 

For CDKN, SwedBio, and the Global Youth Biodiversity Network, these discussions mirror ongoing efforts to support locally-led ecosystem-based adaptation. Such approaches recognise people’s agency, knowledge, and rights as the foundation for climate and development action that is both meaningful and lasting. 

If finance is to drive the transition we need, it must begin by rethinking the balance of power – between people and institutions, between economies and ecosystems, and between the global North and South. Only then can climate and biodiversity finance truly serve people and planet alike.