Hand in Hand for Urban Transformation

This report provides a primer for policy makers on the roles and responsibilities of local, national, and international governance in enabling cities to lead climate change mitigation and adaptation. It emphasizes the critical role of urban areas, which emit over 70% of global emissions, and outlines financial instruments and planning steps necessary for a low-carbon and climate-resilient urban transformation.

• Cities are central to global climate action because they emit more than 70% of global emissions and consume a similar proportion of the world's primary energy, while generating 80% of the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
• Local governments possess significant jurisdictional authority to implement climate actions, including managing urban infrastructure (drainage, stormwater, parks) for adaptation and controlling the transport sector and building energy efficiency for mitigation.
• A comprehensive urban transformation process typically involves six steps: preparation and analysis (including GHG and vulnerability assessments), stakeholder identification, objective organization, priority ranking, finalization of plans and financing, and implementation followed by monitoring and adjustment.
• Climate planning in cities must prioritize human rights to avoid forced evictions of the urban poor, particularly those in informal settlements in hazard-prone areas with unclear land tenure.
• Cities can utilize various local financing mechanisms, including internal sources like property taxes, development charges, and Tax Increment Financing (TIF), as well as external sources such as green bonds, crowdfunding, and Energy Performance Contracting.
• National governments are essential for providing strategic policy frameworks and predictable finance streams, as local revenues are often insufficient for large-scale transformative projects.
• The Philippines has implemented the Climate Change Act (2009) and the People's Survival Fund (PSF) Law (2012), the latter of which allocates at least 1 billion pesos annually to support local government adaptation initiatives.
• India's Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission aims for 100 GW of solar capacity by 2022, and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) supports a "Development of Solar Cities" programme targeting a 10% reduction in conventional energy demand over five years.
• Indonesia's National Action Plan (RAN-GRK) mandates provinces to develop Provincial Action Plans (RAD-GRK), though cities generally lack direct national climate funds unless they have mainstreamed climate change into their development plans.
• The Green Climate Fund (GCF) can support cities through four primary modalities: standard project procedures, acting as Executing Entities (EE), becoming accredited Implementing Entities (IE), or through the Enhanced Direct Access (EDA) programmatic approach.
• GCF guarantees can help cities in the Global South access the green bond market by improving their creditworthiness and reducing the probability of default for investors.

APA

Junghans, L., & Grimm, J. (2016). Hand in Hand for Urban Transformation. Climate and Development Knowledge Network. http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Hand-in-Hand-for-Urban-Transformation-1.pdf

Chicago

Junghans, Lisa, and Julia Grimm. Hand in Hand for Urban Transformation. Climate and Development Knowledge Network, 2016. http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Hand-in-Hand-for-Urban-Transformation-1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Junghans |first1=Lisa |last2=Grimm |first2=Julia |title=Hand in Hand for Urban Transformation |publisher=Climate and Development Knowledge Network |date=August 2016 |url=http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Hand-in-Hand-for-Urban-Transformation-1.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{junghans2016hand, author = {Junghans, Lisa and Grimm, Julia}, title = {{Hand in Hand for Urban Transformation}}, institution = {Climate and Development Knowledge Network}, year = {2016}, month = aug, url = {http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Hand-in-Hand-for-Urban-Transformation-1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }