The Little Book of City Climate Finance

Urban areas face significant financing gaps for climate action due to limited local government borrowing powers and a lack of bankable projects. To address this, the document advocates for the creation of a city climate finance roadmap based on a robust climate action plan. This roadmap should include a pipeline of bankable projects with clear costs and benefits, identified funding sources, and strategies to leverage public and private finance through stakeholder engagement and alignment with national goals.

• Urban climate finance is hindered by structural constraints, specifically the limited capacity of local governments to tax or borrow and a deficiency in projects that are attractive to investors.
• An effective city climate finance roadmap must be preceded by a climate action plan that includes an emissions inventory, a risk and vulnerability assessment, and the identification of investment themes across short, medium, and long-term horizons.
• To increase the likelihood of securing full funding, cities should involve potential funders early in project preparation, align projects with national climate goals, and engage a diverse range of public and private sector actors to build trust and reduce perceived risks.

APA

NewClimate Institute (2023). The Little Book of City Climate Finance. http://www.newclimate.org/resources/publications/the-little-book-of-city-climate-finance

Chicago

NewClimate Institute. The Little Book of City Climate Finance. 2023. http://www.newclimate.org/resources/publications/the-little-book-of-city-climate-finance.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=NewClimate Institute |title=The Little Book of City Climate Finance |date=31 August 2023 |url=http://www.newclimate.org/resources/publications/the-little-book-of-city-climate-finance |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{newclimateinstitute2023little, author = {{NewClimate Institute}}, title = {{The Little Book of City Climate Finance}}, institution = {NewClimate Institute}, year = {2023}, month = aug, url = {http://www.newclimate.org/resources/publications/the-little-book-of-city-climate-finance}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }