Cities responding to the climate emergency through innovative finance, people-centered approaches, and resilience initiatives

This blog was written by Matteo Bizzotto and Sajili Oberoi from the ICLEI Global Communications team. Daring Cities 2022 showed once again that cities and regions are the epicenter of the climate emergency response. With perspectives from every region of the world, we heard loud and clear the following: Now is the time to formalize 

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Show me (how to get) the money: Daring Cities 2022 spotlights how to procure much-needed funds for climate emergency work

Since its inception in 2020, the focus of Daring Cities has been to catalyze and accelerate local climate emergency action. And certainly with well over 2,000 jurisdictions from around the world having formally declared a climate emergency, there is no shortage of projects that cities are seeking to launch tied to the overarching goals of 

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Daring Cities 2020: Top 5 most popular thematic sessions

A first-of-its kind virtual event, Daring Cities 2020 positioned itself as the global forum for urban leaders taking action on the climate emergency. With 100 sessions and more than 200 hours of online discussions designed with urban leaders in mind, the event unfolded over the span of three weeks. The four plenary days at the 

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Climate Resilience Webinar Series Highlights Opportunities for Recovery in South Asia

ICLEI South Asia and CDKN organised a series of webinars on climate resilience and its various aspects, including urban and peri-urban planning, gender, and green economic recovery in the context of COVID-19. The webinars were held every Thursday of August 2020. The objective of the session on Climate Resilience Planning and Action: Experiences from South 

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Plotting a new course: Towards external financing for nature-based solutions in cities

By Ingrid Coetzee, Senior Manager, Biodiversity and Nature-based Solutions, ICLEI Cities Biodiversity Center (CBC) and Kobie Brand, Director of the CBC   The challenge of rapid urbanization The United Nations World Cities Report 2016, Urbanization and Development: Emerging Futures, predicts that by 2030 two-thirds of the world’s population will be living in cities. It further 

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The coming rise of urban infrastructure: turning infrastructure green

By Andrew M. Deutz, Ph. D., Director, International Government Relations, The Nature Conservancy — There are a handful of truly critical global sustainability challenges that will determine whether or not the world will be prosperous and healthy by the middle of this century—or by the time my kids are my age. Can we generate energy without 

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When cities and towns unite: the Seoul Communiqué for global climate action

The second day of the Seoul Mayors Forum on Climate Change got underway with focused discussions on critical tools cities need to achieve local climate goals. Mayoral Second Annual Summit: Global Lead City Network on Sustainable Procurement (GLCN) Given the huge spending power of cities worldwide, sustainable procurement represents one of the most direct and practical tools cities can use 

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Climate compatible development starts with finding the right partners

Alice Reil of ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability rounds up lively discussions about ‘how to make climate compatible development happen’ at local and city level from the Resilient Cities 2016 congress and CDKN-ICLEI learning program. This blog post was originally published on CDKN website. Identifying adaptation options for a more sustainable tourism along the vulnerable coast of Belize. 

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When city met finance: how to fund and build resilient infrastructure in emerging economies

Seventy-five percent of the infrastructure that will exist in 2050 has not been built yet, according to Global Infrastructure Basel. So, how can we ensure that this infrastructure gets financed and built in a way that factors in environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues? Cities in emerging economies, particularly in Africa, face numerous challenges in 

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How to build resilience in Sub-Saharan Africa

by David Lammers, MSc Environmental Studies and Sustainability Studies, Lund University While the challenges of increasing urbanization are often most prominently visible in the world’s megacities, the fastest growth will occur in medium-sized cities in Asia or Africa, according to the World Urbanization Prospects 2014 report. Finding solutions for the challenges these cities face is – 

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