The State of Cities Climate Finance 2024

The report finds that while urban climate finance more than doubled to USD 831 billion in 2021/2022, it must increase more than fivefold to align with a 1.5°C pathway. Mitigation needs are dominated by transport, energy, and buildings, with a significant financing gap particularly in emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs). The document identifies systemic challenges including weak enabling environments and city-level capacity gaps, and proposes the '4C Urban Climate Finance Agenda' (Commitment, Collaboration, Capacity, and Capital Mobilization) to scale investment.

• Tracked urban climate finance flows more than doubled from 2017 to 2022, reaching an annual average of USD 831 billion in 2021/2022. Private finance accounted for 49% (USD 404 billion) and public finance for 22% of this total.
• Annual urban climate finance must increase by more than five times to meet a 1.5°C climate pathway. For mitigation alone, cities require an estimated USD 4.3 trillion annually until 2030, increasing to over USD 6 trillion per year from 2031 to 2050.
• Urban mitigation investment needs are concentrated in three primary sectors: transport (USD 1.7 trillion annually until 2030), energy (USD 1.2 trillion), and buildings and infrastructure (USD 1 trillion).
• Climate finance is heavily skewed toward developed economies and China, leaving EMDEs severely underfunded. In 2021/2022, flows to sub-Saharan Africa were USD 5 billion, the Middle East and North Africa were USD 8 billion, and South Asia were USD 17 billion.
• Urban adaptation finance is significantly lower than mitigation, reaching USD 10 billion in 2021/2022. Adaptation needs for cities in EMDEs are estimated at USD 147 billion per year until 2030, though these are likely underestimations.
• Four systemic challenges hinder the closing of the finance gap: insufficient commitment to urban action, weak enabling environments, city-level capacity gaps, and inadequate capital mobilization.

APA

Climate Policy Initiative (2024). The State of Cities Climate Finance 2024. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/CCFLA-State-of-Cities-Executive-Summary.pdf

Chicago

Climate Policy Initiative. The State of Cities Climate Finance 2024. 2024. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/CCFLA-State-of-Cities-Executive-Summary.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate Policy Initiative |title=The State of Cities Climate Finance 2024 |date=September 2024 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/CCFLA-State-of-Cities-Executive-Summary.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climatepolicyinitiative2024state, author = {{Climate Policy Initiative}}, title = {{The State of Cities Climate Finance 2024}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2024}, month = sep, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/CCFLA-State-of-Cities-Executive-Summary.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }