What do sustainable cities mean to you? For many, it is about more than just green spaces and clean air. Sustainable cities are the nexus where innovative solutions converge to create resilient communities, fostering a delicate balance between economic prosperity, ecological integrity, and social equity. With urban sprawl encroaching upon natural habitats and climate change-induced disasters becoming more frequent, which pose threats to ecosystems, biodiversity, human health, and overall well-being, the need for building sustainable cities has never been more urgent, and the stakes couldn’t be higher. Amidst these planetary challenges lies an opportunity to catalyze transformational changes in cities – the Sustainable Cities Program.
Created by the Global Environment Facility in 2016, the Sustainable Cities Program has been spearheading efforts towards low carbon, and a greener, more resilient future. Since its inception, it has transitioned through three different phases – the GEF-6 Sustainable Cities Integrated Approach Pilot, the GEF-7 Sustainable Cities Impact Program (UrbanShift), and the GEF-8 Sustainable Cities Integrated Program, which was recently approved at the 67th GEF Council meeting. With the latest approval, 90+ cities across 34 countries have benefited from the GEF grant financing total of $480 million, and nearly $5 billion in co-financing has been mobilized.
The GEF’s Sustainable Cities Program pioneered the two-track programmatic and integrated approach:
Through country- and city-level projects, national governments are working together with urban partners – mayors, urban planners, non-governmental organizations, academia, and the private sector – to create innovative models for implementation of integrated sustainability solutions and investments. Below are examples of cities leading the way in implementing these innovative approaches:
Knowledge sharing and capacity-building activities from GEF-6. Photos credit: Global Platform for Sustainable Cities
Unlocking urban potential: The power of knowledge sharing and capacity building
As part of the Sustainable Cities Integrated Approach Pilot, the Global Platform empowered cities through tailored capacity-building programs, such as city academies and regional workshops, and the delivery of 55+ knowledge and learning activities. For instance, recognizing the increasing importance of public-private partnerships (PPPs) in urban development, it organized training on municipal financing and creditworthiness and developed the Municipal Public-Private Partnerships Framework to provide a practical guide and set of tools to support municipalities in identifying, preparing, delivering, and managing PPP projects. Through these efforts, the Global Platform not only promoted knowledge sharing but also fostered a culture of capacity building and collaboration among cities, laying a solid foundation for continued progress and innovation.
In GEF-7, UrbanShift has expanded the capacity-building activities with Finance Academies and Urban Labs offering concrete trainings for city officials on themes such as electric vehicles, nature-based solutions, or how to access climate finance. With the implementation of this second phase well underway, the program is becoming a major global urban platform, focusing in particular on the challenges of the rapidly urbanizing Global South. UrbanShift created many knowledge products related to urban sustainability, such as the Guide for Global South Cities on Public-Private Collaboration to Accelerate Sustainable Urban Development.
The Sustainable Cities Integrated Program under GEF-8 will bring together more than 40 cities across 20 countries, with GEF grant financing of $170 million. Through two complementary components, the program will support cities and local governments in undertaking integrated urban planning, implementing policies, and investing in nature-positive, climate-resilient, and carbon-neutral urban development.
Embodying global partnership and collaboration. The program will be implemented by the World Bank as the lead agency in collaboration with nine GEF agencies (BOAD, DBSA, FAO, IADB, IUCN, UNDP, UNEP, UNIDO, and World Bank). By bringing together cities, implementing agencies, city networks, financial institutions, the private sector, civil society organizations, and research institutions through the Global Platform for Sustainable Cities, the program fosters transformation through designing and implementing innovative urban solutions, capacity building, and knowledge sharing.
Drawing on lessons learned from previous phases that reflect the heightened ambitions to shift cities towards a greener, more resilient future. After a series of online, in-person, and hybrid consultation meetings with strategic partners and stakeholders, the Sustainable Cities Integrated Program is shaped to target five levers that will help enable urban systems transformation in an integrated manner: (i) policy integration and coherence; (ii) financing and investment; (iii) urban innovation; (iv) partnerships; and (v) expanding knowledge to increase capacity.
Sustainable Cities Integrated Program Consultations in Brazil, Belem, April 2023. Photos credit: Global Environment Facility
Through the Child Projects and Global Platform, the program will engage political leadership across government levels, fostering coordinated actions in policy design and implementation. This approach will not only help realize global and national targets (e.g., climate, biodiversity, and inclusion targets) but also amplify the impact of local priorities.
Scale up financing and support the new generation of project investment
Experiences from previous phases underscored the critical need to streamline technical assistance into downstream investments and provide comprehensive support across the urban development value chain. The program will support a new generation of project investment by collaborating with multilateral development banks and international and domestic financial institutions to better integrate GEF technical assistance projects into their portfolios. It will also work with cities and the private sector to develop bankable projects and explore innovative financial instruments.
Mainstreaming innovations across policy, technology, and finance dimensions, the program will identify opportunities to influence new policy development, bridging siloed areas and supporting ambitious sustainability standards. It will also explore and disseminate locally suitable decarbonization technologies, such as scenario analysis and modeling, and innovative financing mechanisms that also help contribute to global environmental benefits.
Building upon its broad partnerships, the program will further deepen and broaden the networks to garner political support, institutionalize integrated approaches, and embed sustainability into decision making and policy frameworks on a global scale. Strategic engagement with the private sector and civil society organizations would be emphasized to foster inclusion, innovation, and scale.
The program will prioritize knowledge management and production, collaborating with partners to create, share, and apply insights and innovative tools for city sustainability. Through capacity-building activities, cities will also be equipped with the necessary resources, expertise, and networks to address urban challenges effectively.
Through those pivotal levers, the Sustainable Cities Program will help transform our cities towards achieving the vision of a healthy planet for healthy people, where our cities are not just places we live but thriving hubs of innovation and prosperity in harmony with nature.