Banking on Cities: Investing in Resilient and Low-Carbon Urbanization

Cities are responsible for ever-growing shares of people, assets, and economic activities that are vulnerable to climate disasters, as well as of carbon emissions. Cities in low- and middle-income countries are particularly important in this regard, as they still have a window of opportunity to grow in resilient and low-carbon ways. What are the key resilient and low-carbon investments that these cities should make in the coming decades? How much will these investments cost, and where can cities look for resources to pay for these investments? These are the questions explored in this report. This report estimates the costs of key resilient and low-carbon urban investments in all low- and middle-income countries up to 2050. It covers various types of urban investments that are not only relevant for climate change mitigation and adaption, but for also livable and inclusive urbanization in general. These include investments in urban transportation, energy efficient buildings, solid waste management, water and wastewater, flood protection, and heat resilience. The estimated total cost for these investments revealed by this analysis is sobering - between around 260 and 820 billion US dollars per year. But this report aims to do more than just issue a call to action for more investment to meet this target. It advances the discussion on urban climate finance, by discussing how cities can reduce the cost of these investments through efficient and coordinated growth, and exploring which sources of funding and finance are suited to which types of urban investments. Funding and financing these investments will require cities to crowd in resources from various places, including both climate-specific and other sources: municipal and national budgets, multinational development banks, carbon markets, private investors, and elsewhere. Cities and national governments can use this report as a guide as they think through their urban investment strategies.