BMFTR – Sustainable Finance in a Changing World (Future Finance)

Funding is available for research and development projects that identify and pursue (financial) economic research approaches in Germany.

The funding line ‘Future Finance in Global Change‘ (Zukunftsfähige Finanzwirtschaft im globalen Wandel – Future Finance) by the Bundesministerium für Forschung, Technologie und Raumfahrt (BMFTR – Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space) aims to improve the research basis for a sustainable financial sector for global change and generate research findings to improve the sustainable orientation of financial flows, particularly in line with international climate protection and adaptation goals and the protection of ecosystems. The goal is also to achieve a better understanding of the interactions between sustainable finance and climate protection, climate adaptation and ecosystems, as well as social subsystems such as the (real) economy, politics, regulation, society and science. This will be used to derive application-oriented recommendations for financial actors, policymakers, regulators and companies in Germany.

The initiative runs the following modules:

Module A. Finance and climate protection.

The focus of the module is on practices to the financing of climate protection and the transition to a climate-neutral economy and society. The existing knowledge base must be further expanded, and innovation and transformation must continue to be significantly advanced. Research projects focus in particular on issues relating to efficiency, impact, transparency and participation.

Module B. Finance & Climate Adaptation.

The module focuses on necessary adaptation investments to climate change at local, regional and national levels. The goal is to fill gaps in knowledge, behavioural barriers, market failures, a lack of assessment criteria and inadequate or inappropriate regulation that are currently hindering effective climate adaptation in many cases.

Module C. Carbon markets.

The focus here is on gaining a better understanding of the direct and, above all, wider (structural) effects of comprehensive and far-reaching CO2 pricing and carbon markets on the financial sector and the real economy and society (eg with regard to the distribution and sustainability of cost burdens).

Module D. Finance & Ecosystems.

This module focuses on the interaction of climate change and the threat to ecosystems. The goal is to promote research in this area of sustainable finance and the operationalisation of financing for the protection of ecosystems.

Module E. New developments for a sustainable financial sector in a changing global environment.

The focus here is on how dynamic processes of change (economic, political, technical, demographic, social, environmental and resource-related) influence the development of the financial sector, its regulation and its players. The goal is to develop science-based recommendations.

The BMFTR announces specific calls for proposals that refer to one or more of the above-mentioned modules.

The funding programme builds on the results of the Klimaschutz & Finanzwirtschaft (KlimFi – Climate Protection & Finance) funding measure and contributes to the implementation of Action 22 ‘Supporting the sustainable orientation of the economic and financial system’ of the ‘Research for Sustainability (FONA) strategy and the Deutsche Sustainable Finance-Strategie (German Sustainable Finance Strategy).

The BMFTR has appointed the project management agency Projektträger Jülich (PtJ) coordinate the programme on its behalf.

Funding body	Bundesministerium für Forschung, Technologie und Raumfahrt (BMFTR – Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space)
Maximum value	Discretionary
Reference ID	S28250
Category	Economic and Social Research Natural Environment
Fund or call	Fund