According to a study published on Saturday on the sidelines of the COP28 summit climate negotiations, cities only receive a small part of the financing they need, especially in low-income countries.
The Cities Climate Finance Leadership Alliance (CCFLA) indicated that cities are on the front line of climate risks and are responsible for three quarters of global emissions, but that multilateral development banks (MDBs) must adopt new strategies to address to the enormous financing gap.
According to the study, the first review of urban financing by the main MDBs, cities only receive 1% of the climate finance they need, which is estimated at $5.4 trillion annually until 2030.
The share of MDB financing dedicated to urban-related climate projects stood at $62 billion between 2015 and 2022, or 21% of the total, despite rapid rates of urbanization around the world, according to The study indicated after analyzing data from 815 climate-related urban projects financed by the MDBs during the period.
Although among the most vulnerable to climate, cities in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa received an especially low share of urban climate finance, with the study citing issues such as creditworthiness and restricted access to markets of capitals.
The study called on development banks to provide more concessional financing to de-risk investments.
Source: Ambito
