Oct 28, 2022
The Climate Investment Funds planned Smart Cities Program can help them realize that potential.
Cities offer huge opportunities for fighting climate change. The Climate Investment Funds planned Smart Cities Program can help them realize that potential. They’re part of the problem – producing 60% of global GHG emissions and consuming 78% of the world’s energy.
They’re also victims of climate change. The IPCC sixth assessment report highlighted cities as ‘hotspots’ of climate risks and impacts. The continued pace of urbanization (70% of Earth’s population are expected to be urbanized by 2050) heightens those risks.
Cities are part of the solution too
The report observed that cities offer significant opportunities for emissions reductions and went on to suggest how this might be achieved; creating low energy consuming, compact and walkable cities was one example. The electrification of transport in combination with low-emission energy sources, and enhanced carbon uptake and storage using nature was another.
Jim Skea, co-chair of the IPCC Working Group III, which focused exclusively on mitigation of climate change, stated that examples of zero energy or zero carbon buildings had been seen in almost all climates, urging for critical action to capture the mitigation potential for buildings by 2030.
These observations and examples from the IPCC are perfectly aligned with the goals and the design of a city specific Climate Investment Funds (CIF) program.
CIF Smart Cities Program: where it will work
Low- and middle-income countries are places where the pace of urbanization is most profound. Rapidly growing cities in these countries have come under CIF’s spotlight because they have significant infrastructure deficits and many face creditworthiness and bankability challenges. This is a barrier to attracting private finance to assist them adapt to and mitigate climate change.
Yet, rapidly urbanizing areas, where infrastructure is a work in progress, hold the greatest potential for sustainable and resilient development, they’re not locked into conventional urban forms.
How it will work
The program has been purposefully designed for fast growing small to medium sized cities that have significant infrastructure deficits, but no history of creditworthiness and bankability so limited ability to attract private finance.
Because they’re poised to become tomorrow’s megacities, the program supports them in financing their growth in ways that will contribute to achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement, and address the concerns highlighted in the IPCC report.
The goal of the planned Smart Cities Program is to extend financing and connect these cities with private sector funding to ensure cities grow as resilient, greener, compact, transit-oriented, and economically inclusive.
This is an opportunity to pilot test innovative technologies and financial instruments in a collaborative way: working with host cities to assess climate risks and prioritize their investment needs, establishing the baseline requirements and then planning the next steps.
With per city investment potentially ranging from $30million to $100million for low-carbon and climate-resilient development in energy, transport, buildings, water, waste, and other key sectors, this program is shaping up to be a smart approach to growing the cities of the future, and a blueprint for breaking with the past.
This is a unique opportunity for small to mid-sized cities - offering them a customized model of scaled and programmatic interventions that is focused on both mitigation and adaptation interventions. This approach will enable their growth while enhancing their climate change resilience and significantly lowering their GHG emissions. Which is why the time is now right for the CIF Smart Cities Program.