ADB Underscores Sustainable Urbanization for Climate Action at the World Urban Forum
December 16, 2024
ADB played a key role in global discussions on sustainable urbanization at the recently concluded Twelfth Session of the World Urban Forum held from 4-8 November 2024 in Cairo, Egypt. Spearheaded by the Water and Urban Development Sector Office, under Directors Satoshi Ishii and Srinivas Sampath, ADB highlighted the importance of inclusive and sustainable urbanization as the cornerstone of climate action.
During the forum, ADB led 12 sessions, participated as panelists in 9 partner-led events, and engaged in 24 bilateral discussions with multilateral development banks, governments, finance institutions, development partners, and other stakeholders to strengthen partnerships and drive more impactful urban development outcomes.
CDIA’s Contribution to WUF12
As part of the ADB delegation, CDIA contributed to the forum by organizing three networking and two training events. Attended by 190 participants, these sessions served as platforms for discussing bottlenecks and solutions for mainstreaming climate finance, urban resilience, and good governance to enable cities to address their development challenges.
On 5 November, CDIA hosted a session on financial sustainability in collaboration with another ADB-administered Urban Resilience Trust Fund (URTF), and the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF). Panelists underscored the importance of subnational finance and key strategies for improving fiscal management and resource mobilization.
CDIA, alongside the Cities Climate Finance Leadership Alliance (CCFLA), organized on the same day a session that showcased how project preparation facilities can unlock urban climate finance. It also highlighted successful project examples, including the Zu Peshawar BRT project, which originated from the CDIA pre-feasibility study.
On 6 November, URTF and CDIA, in partnership with GIZ’s Urban Act and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme – Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, delivered a training on measuring resilience. The session introduced strategies and tools for defining, measuring, and communicating the effectiveness of urban resilience interventions toward more strategic project identification and implementation.
Later that day, CDIA and URTF, together with the United Cities and Local Governments-Asia-Pacific (UCLG-ASPAC), CDP, and UNCDF, led a networking session on matchmaking between cities and investors. The session enabled cities from Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, and Brazil to pitch their climate initiatives and get instant feedback on how to enhance their projects and attract funding. The Indonesian City of Medan was potentially linked to the Geneva-based Catalytic Finance Foundation.
On 7 November, CDIA, URTF, UCLG-ASPAC, CDP, UNCDF, and Sustainable Infrastructure Foundation (SIF), delivered an urban resilience training. It introduced a holistic urban resilience approach, as well as relevant tools such as CDIA’s City Infrastructure Investment Programming and Prioritization (CIIPP) toolkit and SIF’s SOURCE to boost the technical and financial relevance of climate initiatives. This session further equipped cities with strategies to enhance project preparation by allowing them to pitch their projects to development partners and private investors.
The main takeaways from the five events were as follows:
- Cities need to enhance their financial sustainability and creditworthiness by continuously improving fiscal management, leveraging unutilized assets, and developing financial plans for their projects from the outset.
- The massive climate financing gap in cities can be addressed by improving project preparation, prioritizing gender and other social equity interventions, enhancing institutional and financial capacities, exploring blended finance approaches, and fostering collaboration with various partners.
- Effective urban resilience measurement, adaptable to various contexts and supported by coordinated efforts, is crucial for securing funding and making informed decisions. It necessitates tailored tools and capacity building for data generation.
WUF12 set a new record with over 25,000 participants from 182 countries. The forum’s theme, “It All Starts at Home: Local Actions for Sustainable Cities and Communities,” was explored by speakers, panelists, and attendees from diverse backgrounds, highlighting its significance across various sectors. The event concluded with the unveiling of the Cairo Call to Action, summarizing the key messages and ideas discussed at the forum.
