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PLOS Climate call for submissions: Climate and Sustainable Development Finance- Understanding the What, Who, and How

Jamie Males Call for Papers Climate Change Economics Focus Topic Policy Sustainable development
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This project is being led by PLOS Climate Academic Editor Jacob Park, Visiting Professor and DSI/NRF/Newton Fund Trilateral Chair in Transformative Innovation at the University of Johannesburg and Chair of the Business, Best Practice, Accountability Thematic Group at the IUCN’s Commission on Environmental, Economic, and Social Policy.

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If there is one question that connects ambition to act on climate change, biodiversity and sustainable development, then it must be that of how to pay for our global public policy priorities. At the UNFCCC COP29 in November 2024, the international community agreed in principle to increasing three-fold the international contribution to US$300bn (about £240bn) from the current US$100bn (£79.8bn) a year. However, whilst the UN has been trying to do “more with less” for many years, it is now confronting an economic reality that can only be described as doing “less with less” [1]. In this context, we need a global consensus on how the international community can more effectively identify, scale, and mobilize climate and sustainable development finance.

According to the Climate Policy Institute, 2025 is a pivotal year for the global agendas of climate and sustainable development, most notably in the form of the 5th Finance in Common Summit (FiCS), the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4), the G20 Summit under South Africa’s presidency, and the UNFCCC COP30 [2]. The World Resources Institute puts it even more clearly: “For more than 20 years, WRI has identified annual “stories to watch.” These are the year’s moments, issues and decisions that we believe will shape the future trajectory of the world. In the past, we’ve highlighted things like dangerous heat in cities, major elections and their effects on geopolitics, food system reform and more. This year is different. There aren’t stories to watch in 2025. There’s just one – … It’s climate finance …” [3]. 

With this in mind, PLOS Climate is calling for submissions that will provide a comprehensive analysis of what kinds of evidence-based market, policy, and institutional pivots the UN, business, and civil society actors might be able to make in response to the current global funding environment. Specifically, we are seeking submissions that address the questions of:

“What”– What do we mean by climate or sustainable development finance?

“Who”– Who should do what? What role should Indigenous groups play a more meaningful role in this financing space? What role should the private sector and/or market economy play in designing and mobilizing climate and sustainable development finance that is effective and equitable? [4]

“How”– How should climate and sustainable development finance function within national, regional, cultural or sectoral contexts?

There is no deadline for submissions, as we intend to establish this as an ongoing focus topic within the journal. Accepted articles will be published and highlighted on a continuous basis to PLOS Climate’s broad and interdisciplinary readership on an ongoing basis through a variety of channels and forums.

We encourage submissions of original Research Articles through PLOS Climate‘s Editorial Manager portal. We also welcome proposals for submissions of Reviews, Opinions and Essays, which should be addressed to Executive Editor Dr Jamie Males.

All submissions will be subject to PLOS Climate’s standard editorial and peer review processes, and will be assessed by members of the journal’s editorial board.

Publication fees for Research Articles are automatically waived for corresponding authors whose primary affiliation is to an institution in a Group A or B Research4Life country, or whose institution has a partnership with PLOS. There are no publication fees for Reviews, Opinions or Essays.

Ready to submit your work to PLOS Climate? Follow our step-by-step guide to the submission process!

References

  1. Gowan, R. 2025. “Doing “Less with Less” at the UN.” International Crisis Group. Available from https://www.crisisgroup.org/global-united-states/doing-less-with-less-un  
  2. Climate Policy Institute. 2025. “2025 Policy Bulletin: Climate Finance for Development.” Available from: https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/2025-policy-bulletin-climate-finance-for-development
  3. Dasgupta, A. 2025. “Climate Finance Is a Top Story to Watch in 2025.” Available from https://www.wri.org/insights/climate-finance-progress-2025
  4. Kharas, H. et al (editors) 2025.  “For the World’s Profit: How Business Can Support Sustainable Development.” Brookings Press: Washington D.C. Available at https://www.brookings.edu/books/for-the-worlds-profit
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