C40 Cities Finance Facility

Identifying the Benefits of Nature-Based Infrastructure in South Africa Last week C40 Cities Finance Facility (CFF) hosted a series of trainings on Nature-Based Infrastructure (NBI) and their benefits in Cape Town and Drakenstein. CFF conducted these sessions on nature-based infrastructure and their benefits in collaboration with International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and will follow them up with additional trainings on cost-benefit analyses focusing on IISD’s Sustainable Asset Valuation methodology.    The interactive workshops in Cape Town and Drakenstein empowered local policymakers and infrastructure planners from environmental management, stormwater management, infrastructure planning and spatial planning with the skills to identify opportunities to use NBI and understand its crucial role for climate adaptation and sustainable development. Participants explored the economic, environmental, and social benefits of NBI compared to traditional "grey" infrastructure. The trainings were tailored to Cape Town and Drakenstein’s river restoration projects and featured specific case studies from around the world, offering practical insights into leveraging NBI for resilient urban planning. The more than 50 participants learned to assess the climate resilience and risk profiles of NBI vs. grey infrastructure projects, and how practicioners can apply systems thinking to infrastructure planning.    Join us in our mission to bridge the urban climate finance gap and create sustainable, resilient cities. You can find more on our projects in Cape Town and Drakenstein here - Cape Town: https://lnkd.in/eHvWNZkN Drakenstein: https://lnkd.in/gN4MXwPu    #UrbanDevelopment #ClimateFinance #NatureBasedSolutions #Sustainability #GreenInfrastructure #ClimateAdaptation #CapeTown2024 #C40Cities #GIZ The CFF is supported by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Agence Française de Développement, and USAID.     The CFF is implemented by C40 Cities and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. 

CFF and Gap Fund collaborate for City Academy on Finance and Equity (CAFE) On 24-27 June, the C40 Cities Finance Facility (CFF) delivered its City Academy on Finance and Equity (CAFE) in Casablanca, Morocco, in collaboration with the City Climate Finance Gap Fund (Gap Fund). This is the first time that CFF and Gap Fund delivered a joint event for cities and the first time that the CAFE was delivered to cities not receiving the full CFF support, marking an exciting milestone in CFF's increasing focus on partnerships. The 4-day CAFE was attended by 32 officials from 9 cities - Elbasan (Albania), La Marsa (Tunisia), Makindye (Uganda), Mansa (Zambia), Nikśič (Montenegro), Nyamira (Kenya), Ojodu (Nigeria), Zenata (Morocco), and Casablanca (Morocco). Mansa’s (Zambia) participation was supported by GIZ Zambia. Convening senior city officials from finance, technical, and social departments in the 9 cities, the workshop enabled them to learn from and discuss with one another how to develop sustainable, equitable, and finance-ready climate infrastructure projects. It focused on concepts, tools and approaches applicable to projects in the energy & buildings and waste management sectors, providing tangible examples of how to integrate finance and equity and inclusion into the project preparation process. Additionally, it featured a series of sessions and exercises on project preparation facilities to help cities in taking their next step toward implementation. CAFEs provide a platform for cities to engage with and learn from one another, and we thank all the attendees for their lively participation and willingness to share their experiences. Participants also got to experience the vibrancy and diversity of Casablanca and Morocco, thanks to our hosts at the City of Casablanca. As announced previously, the event also saw the launch of a new partnership between the CFF and the Gap Fund, bringing the two initiatives closer together in supporting cities in the development of climate infrastructure projects. Following the CAFE, the CFF is sharing additional capacity development tools and approaches focused on finance and equity and inclusion with Gap Fund partner cities. #UrbanClimateFinance #EnergyTransition #SustainableCities #ClimateAction #C40Cities #CapacityBuilding #ClimateFinance GIZ Morocco GIZ Zambia The CFF is supported by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Agence Française de Développement, and USAID. The CFF is implemented by C40 Cities and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.

Advancing Equity and Inclusion in Urban Climate Projects Across Brazil Addressing the growing challenges of rapid urbanization and climate change urgently requires the preparation, financing, and implementation of sustainable infrastructure projects at scale. At C40 Cities Finance Facility (CFF) we are committed to bridging the current multi-trillion-dollar infrastructure finance gap. As marginalised communities are set to disproportionatly affected by climate change, integrating Equity and Inclusion (E&I) considerations is a central pillar of our effort to build green, resilient, and just societies and a crucial way to maximise our positive impact on communities and people. Recently, our local staff Cristiane Borda hosted an insightful workshop in Fortaleza (Brazil), spotlighting our E&I approach and tools. One of these tools – the C40 ‘Equitable and Inclusive Infrastructure’ Tool - supports cities to carry out rapid self-assessments of how projects can incorporate equity and inclusivity aspects across the project cycle. During the workshop, various actors collaborated to identify gaps and discuss opportunities for a more equitable and inclusive project in Fortaleza, where the city of Fortaleza is working to implement a ‘Blue and Green Paths’ project with the support of GIZ Brasil and the Brazilian Ministry of Cities. The workshop’s participants also benefitted from CFF sharing our experience and expertise from the adaptation project we are currently supporting in Salvador (Brazil).  They left the workshop with the ability to conduct the self-assessment, having gained rich impressions and inspiration from the exchange of ideas and with a vision to further scale equitable and inclusive urban infrastructure projects across Brazil. Check out our Guidance Note for Cities ‘Embedding Equity and Inclusivity in Sustainable Infrastructure’ where you can read more about the powerful learnings gathered across the rich host of our supported projects. Its concrete and actionable recommendations are available for download in our Knowledge Library: https://lnkd.in/dnNcyGCd #UrbanDevelopment #ClimateFinance #SustainableCities #ClimateAdaptation #Equity #Inclusion #InternationalCooperation #EquityandInclusion #JustTransition The CFF is supported by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (BMZ), Agence Française de Développement, and USAID.     The CFF is implemented by C40 Cities and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH. 

Cities come together in Casablanca (Morocco) to prepare impactful climate infrastructure projects This week, the C40 Cities Finance Facility (CFF) and the City Climate Finance Gap Fund (Gap Fund) are welcoming delegates from 9 cities in Africa and Europe at the City Academy on Finance and Equity (CAFE), which is being hosted in Casablanca between 24-27 June. Dr. Omnia Aboukorah-Voigt, GIZ Head of Cluster: Energy and Sustainable Mobility, and Ingrid Simon, CFF’s Programme Co-Director (C40) welcomed the city officials to Casablanca and to the workshop, alongside. The speakers highlighted cities’ commitment to implementing sustainable infrastructure projects and encouraged participants to learn and exchange around how to achieve such ambitions. At this important event, CFF and Gap Fund are launching a new partnership, bringing the two initiatives closer together in supporting cities in the development of climate infrastructure projects. Through this partnership, CFF is sharing proven capacity development tools and approaches with Gap Fund partner cities to support project preparation and access to finance, including this week’s City Academy on Finance and Equity. The CAFE is the first-ever joint workshop between CFF and Gap Fund. The 4-day CAFE aims to equip city officials with useful concepts, approaches and tools to plan sustainable and equitable infrastructure projects. It provides concrete suggestions to transform cities’ innovative ideas into bold climate action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and create resilient and liveable cities for urban residents. Delegates from 9 cities in Africa and Europe joined this week’s event, namely: Casablanca (Morocco), Elbasan (Albania), La Marsa (Tunisia), Makindye (Uganda), Mansa (Zambia), Nikśič (Montenegro), Nyamira (Kenya), Ojodu (Nigeria), and Zenata (Morocco). The City Climate Finance Gap Fund helps cities in developing and emerging countries realise their climate ambitions, turning low-carbon, climate-resilient ideas into strategies and finance-ready projects. In an environment where resources and expertise are limited, Gap Fund supports cities and local governments in preparing and prioritising climate-smart plans and investments with the goal of attracting more financing and support for implementation. #UrbanClimateFinance #EnergyTransition #SustainableCities #ClimateAction #C40Cities #CapacityBuilding #ClimateFinance GIZ Morocco GIZ Zambia The CFF is supported by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (BMZ), Agence Française de Développement, and USAID. The CFF is implemented by C40 Cities and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH.

Recently, CFF participated in the “Urban Innovation Towards Creative and Sustainable Development” event in Salvador (Brazil) to celebrate World Environment Day. The event was organized by Salvador City Hall in partnership with CAF -banco de desarrollo de América Latina y el Caribe- and brought together practitioners from different organisations to discuss biodiversity, sustainable development and the creative economy. Ilan Cuperstein, C40 Cities Regional Director for Latin America, and Cristiane Borda, CFF Senior Project Advisor for the city of Salvador, took part in a panel on international cooperation to reach sustainable development goals, together with representatives from ICLEI Brazil, UN-Habitat Brazil, CAF, and the International Cooperation Office of Salvador. They emphasized the vast potential of climate projects to simultaneously tackle multiple challenges. Based on their experience in working with CFF-projects, they highlighted how urban infrastructure transformation not only promotes people’s resilience but also protects biodiversity, improves quality of life, and creates jobs     The Mayor of Salvador, Bruno Reis, and the Municipal Secretary of Sustainability and Resilience, Ivan Euler, highlighted the Vila Mar project currently supported by CFF as an important example of the city’s initiatives to promote sustainable development and tackle climate change. They also announced the capacity-building activities that CFF is offering for city officials to apply green infrastructure and nature-based solutions to promote risk reduction and co-benefits in informal and low-income communities.      Find more information on our project at https://lnkd.in/edcFHqfe   The CFF is supported by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (BMZ), Agence Française de Développement, and USAID.     The CFF is implemented by C40 Cities and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH. 

The C40 Cities Finance Facility recently collaborated with partner cities Bogotá and Medellín for the latest edition of Conversápolis, an event for cities to share their experiences in both the energy sector and with nature-based solutions. Two roundtable discussions were organized: the first roundtable focused on Sustainable Urban Development and Energy (The role of cities in the energy transition) and the second roundtable focused on Financing, monitoring, and maintenance of urban Nature-based Solutions to reduce climate and disaster risk. The first roundtable saw practitioners from across Colombia (Neiva, Pereira, Cesar, Cali, Cartagena) exchange insights on the current regulatory environment in Colombia, different financial and business models for implementing energy efficiency projects, with case studies from Rio de Janeiro, Mexico, and Bogotá. Representatives from the Departamento Nacional de Planeación and other entities such as Fondo de Energías No Convencionales y Gestión Eficiente de la Energía (FENOGE) and the UPME Unidad de Planeación Minero Energética (UPME) took part in the roundtable and made valuable contributions to discussions around financing urban climate action in Colombia. For the second roundtable, the CFF teamed up with the Gap Fund, SolNatura, and the Iniciativa Global para la Gestión del Riesgo de Desastres (IGGRD) for a roundtable on nature-based solutions. Practitioners from across Colombia exchanged insights on implementation of nature-based solutions. Key activities included identifying finance instruments, visiting a Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems pilot project, and developing a comprehensive booklet with concrete solutions and costs to aid replication in other cities. The roundtables were an excellent opportunity to exchange learnings and insights into the implementation of climate projects and are a core component of CFF’s work – not only to benefit its partner cities but also to encourage replication across other cities in Colombia. Conversápolis is a series of events organised by GIZ Colombia aimed at fostering cooperation and exchange among leaders and experts dedicated to advancing sustainable urban practices in Colombia. Explore more about Conversápolis at https://conversapolis.org/   Learn more about all CFF-supported projects in Colombia: https://lnkd.in/ehM7pueb #ClimateAction #SustainableFuture #JustTransition #GIZColombia #SustainableCities The CFF is implemented by C40 Cities and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH The CFF is supported by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Agence Française de Développement, and USAID  

On May 31st, city officials from Lima (Peru), Trujillo (Peru), and Bogotá (Colombia) came together for a productive and inspirational exchange about cycling infrastructure in Latin American urban environments and a study tour of Bogotá.     The CFF previously supported the city of Bogotá in the development and structuring of two of the city’s main cycling projects: the Ciclo Alameda Medio Milenio and the public bike sharing system. As the CFF currently supports Lima and Trujillo on the development of cycling infrastructure, the exchange allowed the two Peruvian cities to get to know and learn from the experiences and success stories of Bogotá.     Representatives from the three cities discussed the challenges and opportunities their cities face in promoting clean, inclusive, and active mobility. The meeting was attended by two officials from Lima's Gerencia de Mobilidad Urbana (GMU), two councilwomen from Municipalidad Metropolitana de Lima (MML), two officials from Transportes Metropolitanos de Trujillo - TMT, together with representatives of Bogotá's Secretaría Distrital de Movilidad, the CFF's Peru project team and two representatives of the Bogotá bike-sharing operator (Tembici). The group had the opportunity to get to know part of Bogotá’s cycle routes network through a visit of the Barrio Vital San Felipe. Participants discussed technical details such as route definition, targets and regulation of urban mobility and, most importantly, shared their particular challenges in supporting behavioral change interventions to promote cycling.    Find more information on our projects at https://c40cff.org/ #ClimateAction #SustainableFuture #JustTransition #Cycling #Mobility #SustainableMobility #SustainableCities #GreenCities #GreenMobility The CFF is implemented by C40 Cities and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH    The CFF is supported by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Agence Française de Développement, and USAID

Mayor of Freetown and C40 Co-Chair Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr OBE opened the Cable Car World Congress in #Essen 🇩🇪, highlighting in her remarks the urgent need to bring urban climate finance to finance-ready projects. The C40 Cities Finance Facility is supporting Freetown City Council with the development of West Africa’s first urban mass-transport cable car. The Freetown Cable Car Project consists of five stations, a total length of 3.6km, and the capacity to serve 6,000 people per hour in both directions. The project will connect underserved hillside communities to the central business district through quick, safe, and inexpensive public transport. Not only does this create #GreenJobsNow, improve air quality and public health, but it provides more equitable access to public services, and economic and educational opportunities for low-income hillside communities. On the back of the Mayor's leadership and the positive results stemming from the CFF supported technical and financial feasibility studies, there has been a keen interest in the project from cable car manufacturers and potential project financiers. In a side event at Cable Car World joined by C40 Cities Managing Director for Climate Action Implementation, Aditi Maheshwari, Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr OBE also hosted an investor roundtable to delve into greater detail around the city’s innovative project and the results and findings from those studies. Discussions and engagements at Cable Car World mark a significant milestone for Freetown's cable car project, and the journey to financing and implementing transformative urban mobility project. #TransformFreetown #TransformingLives #ClimateAction You can find more information on the project in Freetown here: https://lnkd.in/e29rDwDU You can find more information on the Cable Car World Congress here: https://lnkd.in/gQ3PYkea The CFF is supported by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (BMZ), Agence Française de Développement, and USAID. The CFF is implemented by C40 Cities and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH.

Great post by C40 Cities CEO Mark Watts on our mission at the CFF:

This World Environment Day, let's talk about the critical role cities play in addressing the climate crisis. Did you know that, according to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), cities are responsible for 70% of global greenhouse gas emissions? With rising sea levels, droughts, floods, and storms, the impact of climate change on urban areas is undeniable. One of the biggest hurdles cities face in developing innovative infrastructure projects is access to finance. Financial institutions are often hesitant to invest in transformative projects without robust preparation and sound business cases. Financial institutions are critical in providing the financial resources needed for greener and healthier urban futures, yet cities cannot always have access to them. This is where the CFF enters the picture – a game-changer that bridges the gap between cities and finance to support a green and just transition. The CFF, a UNFCCC award-winning project preparation facility, focuses on preparing climate-relevant infrastructure projects for financial readiness, linking them to finance, and scaling proven approaches. Covering sectors like mobility, renewable energy, waste management, and adaptation, the CFF empowers city administrations to lead sustainability efforts. By placing cities in control of project development, and providing tailored support through technical studies, peer exchanges, and learning events, the CFF equips them with the tools to access suitable financing solutions and meet local needs and priorities. The impact speaks volumes. By 2025, the CFF aims to reduce an estimate 7.5 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions in 30 cities worldwide, increase resilience for 2 million people, and leverage a staggering USD 1 billion of climate finance. Environment Day is a great opportunity to celebrate initiatives that empower cities to build a sustainable future for generations to come. Learn about the CFF: https://c40cff.org/ #EnvironmentDay #ClimateAction #SustainableCities The CFF is implemented by C40 Cities and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH The CFF is supported by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Agence Française de Développement, and USAID