Cities are integral to creating a climate-smart future. On-going rapid urbanisation in the Commonwealth, coupled with the increasing pressures on urban communities generated by extreme weather and changing weather patterns, mean that successful cities must plan for a climate resilient future.

Funding challenges

Investment in decarbonising and climate adaptation will be key in ensuring that cities can provide safe, sustainable and inclusive environments for populations. Accessing investment, however, is an ongoing challenge for cities. Developing and financing climate initiatives can be especially difficult due to limited experience of council teams in this area, including capacity and resources for planning and project preparation.

While local communities and city administrations may have a clear understanding of their most pressing climate issues, moving from this to the identification of a viable solution, the development of a project concept, through feasibility assessments to the development of a full investment-ready proposal, can be very challenging. 

CLGF and City Finance Gap Fund

CLGF’s Commonwealth Sustainable Cities Network (CSCN) is partnering with the City Climate Finance Gap Fund to deliver a set of online workshops on transforming ideas into investment, discussing what makes a strong proposal, the key elements to consider, and the specific process for requesting support from the GAP Fund.

Project preparation

The series of online workshops will discuss opportunities for support in the early stages of climate strategy and project preparation cycle, as well as touch on key issues and common pitfalls in this development process.

• Dialogue for African Members - 20 Feburary 2024 - 9.00 UTC - Register Here
• Dialogue for Caribbean Members - 13 March 2024 - 15.00 UTC
• Dialogue for Asian Members - date coming soon

The aim is to provide practical information both from institutions and cities who have already been part of this processes, and will look to highlight future areas of member interest to allow the CSCN to further develop its offer in this area.

Practical insights

CLGF's Head of Programmes, Ms Claire Frost said: "CLGF is committed to supporting our CSCN members to access practical capacity building support and open doors to funding for climate action, adaptation and mitigation"  

These webinars are part of CLGF's wider commitment to mobilising finance for development at the local level, providing a space for dialogue and identifying options and innovations, as well as potential partnerships for delivery.