Ahead of COP30, new research focuses on the role of law and regulation for the financial implementation of Paris Agreement objectives.
At this year's COP30 climate conference in Belém, the thorny theme of finance will be discussed and debated on 14-15 November.
Multiple studies have indicated that trillions of dollars are needed annually to combat climate change. Yet capital markets and private financial institutions continue to overwhelmingly invest in, lend to, and underwrite a global economy that is out of alignment with Paris Agreement objectives. Importantly, due to market failures and distortions, private capital cannot magically self-mobilise or self-reform to fulfil public interest objectives. It has become clear that financial misalignments need systemic rectification.
New research co-authored by Professor Megan Bowman and Tom Tayler (Aviva Investors) comes at a pivotal moment ahead of COP30. In Law and the International Financial Architecture: Pathways and Pivot points for achieving Paris objectives, the authors:
- Argue for a coherent framework of national and regional legal, regulatory, and fiscal measures that all point in the same direction to realign finance flows.
- Propose a 'trust transition' (in addition to a just one) to embrace a spirit of collective responsibility, accountability, and equity.
- Provide a legal examination of the 'finance imperative' in Article 2.1(c) of the Paris Agreement, and its structural importance in relation to Article 9 and the New Collective Quantified Goal on climate finance.
- Posit two macro-level approaches to action this finance imperative: a re-examination of the International Financial Architecture (being the governance arrangements that safeguard the stability and function of global monetary and financial systems); and thoughtful national law and regulation that not only aligns economic activity but also mainstreams accountability and transparency for the net zero transition.
- Highlight forward-looking ideas to underpin delivery of Paris objectives and a trust transition. For example, by developing qualitative metrics that incorporate a 'duty of care and dignity' into climate finance decision making.
This work is motivated by a series of conversations about climate finance that were co-convened by our Centre for Climate Law & Governance and Aviva Investors during 2020 - 2024. Those conversations focused on the role of law and regulation for Paris financial implementation. They featured voices from public and private sectors in both emerging and advanced economies. Tom and I were profoundly inspired by the quiet yet recurring call in those meetings for a change in 'heart-set' and not just mind-set
Professor Megan Bowman, Director of Centre for Climate Law & Governance.
This work is featured as a chapter in the forthcoming book A Research Agenda for Law, Finance and the Environment, Megan Bowman and Laura Mai, eds. (Edward Elgar, 2026).
