The role of civil society actors in the sustainable transformation of the financial system has so far been under-researched. This article develops and tests an analytical framework of so-called “channels of influence” to examine the strategies through which civil society organizations (CSOs) seek to influence finance transitions in Germany and at the EU level, and their impacts on political decision-making and financial sector actors. 

Drawing on a mapping of civil society activities, a documentary analysis, and 46 interviews with stakeholders from civil society, the financial sector, and policymaking, the article finds that a diverse range of CSOs is active in attempting to change the finance regime. These actors employ a broad set of activities but predominantly rely on cooperative and knowledge-based approaches. While these strategies have been successful in bringing sustainable finance onto the EU and German policy agendas, their impact on reorienting core financial practices and regime rules remains limited. More confrontational, reputational strategies such as public “naming and shaming” are used less frequently, despite evidence that they can be particularly influential given the finance sector’s strong sensitivity to reputational risk. 

The article highlights the important yet constrained role of civil society in finance transitions and points to a central tension between working within existing finance regime rules and pursuing more far-reaching transformation. Overall, efforts to change core rules of the financial system have so far achieved only limited success, hampered by difficult political conditions as well as the absence of broader societal mobilization and cultural impacts. 

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