Event at H3 preparatory meeting outlines solutions to urban development finance

City governments are under increasing pressure to take sustainable infrastructure investment decisions for low-carbon and resilient urban development. While the need to access infrastructure financing is growing, many city governments are not sufficiently equipped to analyse investment budgets and prioritize projects. Major challenges preventing cities from implementing their greenhouse gas reduction projects and initiatives on climate resilience are a lack of capacity and skills to prepare projects for investment, as well as limited fiscal autonomy and capacity to lever their own financing streams or directly access additional sources of financing.

This side event outlined the multiple approaches being taken across the world to build project preparation and financing skills and capacity in cities. It highlighted viable and innovative ways of linking urban investment projects to finance and to create synergies within the financing community. The side event brought together a group of organisations working to influence the sustainable urban finance agenda, to support cities in accessing finance for sustainable urban development, and to share knowledge and innovation on successful financing approaches.

Mexico City is a good example of the challenges and opportunities faced by megacities in terms of finance for sustainable urbanization: the ambitious GHG emission reduction targets set by the city government require important investments in low-carbon and resilient urban infrastructure in the next decades. Though these investments are supported by high-quality technical projects, the city does not possess sufficient resources to access public and private sources of finance, endangering their long-term sustainability.

Speakers:

• Tanya Müller García, Secretary for the Environment, Mexico City
• Dr Solveig Buhl, Senior Sector Economist for Urban Development and Transport, KfW
• Michael Metzler, Director of USAID’s Development Credit Authority
• Ellis J. Juan, General Coordinator of the IDB’s Emerging and Sustainable Cities Initiative
• James Alexander, Head of Finance and Economic Development, C40 (Moderator)