Climate finance is widely understood as financial flows supporting climate mitigation and adaptation efforts. Yet, this definition masks significant debates. Key ambiguities regarding its sources, measurement criteria, beneficiaries, and decision-making authority, expose deep ideological and political divergences in the global response to climate change. Climate finance raises critical questions about the respective roles of the public and private sectors in addressing climate challenges and their implications for justice, equity, and impact. the centralised allocation of climate finance can also conflict with local communities’ interests and principles of inclusivity, transparency and ownership.

“The commons” refers to shared resources and can include public lands, water bodies, cultural assets, and even digi- tal spaces. It can also refer to forms of knowledge that are held collectively rather than privately. Highlighted by Garrett Hardin in his seminal work ‘Tragedy of the Commons,’ the concept underscores the risk of over-exploitation by indi- viduals prioritizing their self-interests. However, research on common property regimes demonstrates that communities can, under certain conditions, develop governance structures to effectively manage shared resources. Yet, this research often struggles with global commons, such as the climate, and has faced criticism for its insufficient recognition of the roles that culture, history, and power play in collective gov- ernance challenges.