Transactions to Transitions: The Realities of Financing Sustainable Growth | LSEG Sustainable Growth

Why It Matters

Bridging the “transactions‑to‑transitions” gap is crucial to unlock the scale of capital needed for net‑zero and nature goals; without coordinated policy‑finance design and workable capital stacks, investment will lag despite political commitments. GFI’s sectoral, convening approach offers a pragmatic template for mobilising private capital at pace across countries and industries.

Summary

Rhian‑Mari Thomas, CEO of the Green Finance Institute (GFI), says mainstreaming green finance requires shifting focus from isolated transactions to whole‑economy transitions by designing policy and financial solutions together. Since launching GFI in 2019, Thomas has steered the institute to work across buildings, transport, nature, grids and carbon removal, diagnosing barriers and building structured capital solutions that blend public, concessional and private funding. GFI, largely philanthropically funded and backed by the City of London and the UK Treasury, has expanded from the UK into ten jurisdictions, operating only by invitation to triage policymakers, industry and finance and create practical mechanisms like national wealth funds and blended finance structures. Thomas argues finance will flow when risks, incentives and institutional structures are aligned — which requires granular, multi‑stakeholder work rather than only disclosure and regulation.

Original Description

What does financing a sustainable economy look like in reality? In this episode, Dr Rhian-Mari Thomas, CEO of the Green Finance Institute (GFI), joins Jane Goodland to share examples of GFI’s first-of-a-kind-transactions and explore how to bridge the “transactions to transitions” gap. Rhian-Mari sets out GFI’s view of the need for granular sector-transition policy frameworks, and how more coordination across government, finance and industry can turn single transactions into sectoral transition at scale.

0:00 Rhian's career before the Green Finance Institute

2:40 GFI's mission

5:20 International work

7:55 The transactions to transitions gap

13:13 Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) case study

16:19 Scaling first-of-a kind transactions

22:17 Key takeaways for future focus

Listen to the full series here: LSEG Sustainable Growth Podcast

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