The demand for financing climate projects in cities

Description

The report, based on the data drawn from 106 applications for support received by the C40 Cities Finance Facility in 2018, from 1,037 projects submitted to Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) in 2017 and from the 2017 CDP Cities Questionnaire, answers the following questions:

• What are the common characteristics of climate-related projects for which cities seek project preparation and financing support?
• What are the sectors and geographical spread of these projects?
• What is the scale of capital investment required for these projects?
• What are the climate benefits and co-benefits of these projects?
• What kind of support are cities asking for to proceed to implementation?
• What challenges to project implementation do cities currently face?

First, the report outlines the methodology employed to assess the projects in both databases. Second, the projects’ characteristics are outlined as answers to the aforementioned questions. Third, the main findings are outlined, leading to specific recommendations for stakeholders.

The report concludes that there is still a limited number of adaptation projects in both samples (7% of CFF applications, and only 3% of cities’ submissions to CDP), as compared to mitigation projects. The limited number may be due to difficulties in conceptualising adaptation projects, particularly around the  identification and measurement of benefits related to climate change adaptation.

Reference information