Call for Action on Municipal Infrastructure Finance
- Filed Under Climate Funds National Strategy
- SOURCE C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group
- PUBLICATION DATE October 2016
The Paris Agreement on climate change creates the prospect that runaway climate change can be prevented, by setting a goal that global temperature rise should be limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average.
The mayors of the world’s great cities stand ready to play their part in delivering on the ambitions of the Paris Agreement, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (Sustainable Development Goals) and the New Urban Agenda. As members of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40) and through their commitments to the Global Covenant of Mayors for Energy and Climate, mayors understand the actions that are needed and have ambitious plans for developing their cities in ways that are consistent with a low carbon future. Yet too often cities are unable to access the finance needed to deliver on those ambitions.
C40 cities call on national governments and international financial institutions to help finance the transition to a low-carbon, resilient and economically sustainable future for millions of urban citizens.
Cities have been leading the way in tackling climate change for many years, and mayors are determined to implement the Paris Agreement. Now national and regional governments, along with financial institutions must also act to give cities the power they need to create a sustainable future.
The Call for Action on Municipal Infrastructure Finance outlines six key recommendations to build a finance system for sustainable cities, namely:
- Development banks must be reformed to respond to city needs.
- Cities must be granted direct access to international climate funds.
- The power to control finance must be devolved to cities.
- National governments must create a stable policy and regulatory environment.
- Innovation, standardisation, pooling and pipelines must become the new normal.
- Cities must be supported to develop their capacity to prepare and execute projects.
The Call for Action was launched at the Habitat III Conference in Quito, by Mayor of Mexico City and C40 Vice Chair, Miguel Ángel Mancera, Mayor of Madrid, Manuela Carmena and Mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, alongside Mayor of Quito, Mauricio Rodas; Mayor of Bogotá, Enrique Peñalosa; Mayor of Caracas, Helen Fernández and Mayor of Santiago, Claudio Orrego Larraín.
The Call is endorsed by 27 leading international organisations, namely: CDP, Ceres, Cities Development Initiative for Asia, Climate Action Network, Climate Bonds Initiative, Climate Policy Initiative, ClimateWise, E3G, FMDV, Global Infrastructure Basel, Global Infrastructure Hub, Gold Standard, ICLEI, Local Governments for Sustainability, International Solid Waste Association (ISWA), Mission 2020, Natural Resources Defense Council, NCE Cities, Overseas Development Institute, R20, Rocky Mountain Institute, South Pole Group, The Climate Group, United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), UN Environment Program (UNEP), World Business Council for Sustainable Development, World Green Buildings Council, World Resources Institute, and WWF.