Partnerships are a good start, but better framed cross-cutting goals and more intentionally cross-cutting finance should be the next step.

As 'systems change' inspires a growing number of funders, financing the world of tomorrow using today’s funding toolkits will make this a messy journey in the near term. I have found this eight-way trade-off to be a useful way to make sense of this mess and frame progress towards a more fit-for-purpose way of arranging finance for sustainability.

Last year, “net zero” went from radical idea to mainstream policy goal. System change looks set to become that disrupter for how we imagine financing sustainable development.