Empowering Cities to Lead the Charge on Sustainable Development
As the world grapples with the mounting challenges of climate change, the role of cities in driving transformative action has never been more critical. Across Latin America, urban centers stand at the forefront of this battle, poised to redefine the landscape of sustainable development. In the heart of the Amazon River delta, the city of Belém, Brazil serves as a prime example of this dynamic interplay between the urban and the natural.
Surrounded by a network of waterways and islands that harbor precious resources like açaí and cacao, Belém is both a thriving port city and a custodian of invaluable ecosystems. As the host of the upcoming COP30 climate conference, the city finds itself at the nexus of global climate discussions, grappling with the very real impacts of a changing climate – from intensifying heat waves to unpredictable rainfall patterns.
It is against this backdrop that UrbanShift, a global initiative dedicated to catalyzing integrated and resilient urban development, convened over 250 leaders from 35 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean, alongside peers from Asia and Africa, for the UrbanShift Latin America Forum. Over four intensive days, this gathering served as a crucible for collaboration, capacity-building, and the co-creation of transformative solutions.
“We need a discussion on urban climate financing mechanisms. We need to advocate for the inclusion of urban climate finance targets in the global conversation. And we need to champion the role that cities can play in reaching our global climate goals,” said Rogier van den Berg, Director of the WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities, during the Forum’s opening ceremony. The UrbanShift Latin America Forum delivered on all three fronts, equipping participants with the tools and resources to navigate the complex landscape of urban climate finance and spur a transition towards greener, more resilient cities.
Bridging the Financing Gap for Urban Climate Action
Despite a projected global need of $5.4 trillion per year for climate action, cities currently receive only 1% of the necessary climate finance. For projects focused on climate adaptation, the resources are even more scarce. “Financing must reach the local level – the cities, the city dwellers, the people who suffer with heat waves, who lose their belongings and in the worst cases, their lives,” emphasized Ilan Cuperstien, Regional Director for Latin America at C40 Cities.
The UrbanShift Latin America Forum catalyzed a critical dialogue around the need to evolve global climate financing structures to ensure that resources flow directly to the urban centers where adaptation and resilience measures can be implemented most effectively. “Our global climate finance architecture is not designed to work with cities; it’s designed to work with national governments,” explained Andrea Fernández, Managing Director for Climate Finance, Knowledge and Partnerships at C40 Cities. “There’s a real structural issue with our climate finance infrastructure.”
However, the Forum also highlighted the growing momentum within development banks to prioritize climate action efforts and work directly with cities. Tatiana Gallego Lizon, Chief of the Housing and Urban Development Division at the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), noted a recent shift towards initiatives built around clear targets for success. Evolving climate financing mechanisms to better meet the needs of cities, said Mohamed Bakarr, Manager of the Integration and Knowledge Management Division at the Global Environment Facility (GEF), will require funders to break away from traditional, siloed approaches.
“We know city priorities can be addressed in ways that generate environmental benefits but also make life better for people who live in cities,” Bakarr said. “These priorities have to be addressed in an integrated manner. A sector-by-sector approach doesn’t work for cities. Cities are a microcosm of the planet; and we can’t solve anything in isolation.”
Alongside this advocacy for systemic change, the UrbanShift Latin America Forum also equipped participants with the practical tools and resources to better navigate the existing financial landscape and access new sources of funding for local climate action projects. A day-long “Investors’ Roundtable” led by C40 Cities brought representatives from 13 Latin American cities into direct dialogue with financiers, raising awareness about the investment opportunities in adaptation-related projects and overcoming urban investment challenges.
During the final two days of the Forum, ICLEI delivered an UrbanShift City Academy course on “Accessing Urban Climate Finance,” providing participants with an assessment of the current finance landscape and guiding them through the process of preparing applications for ICLEI’s Transformative Actions Program (TAP) – a core part of UrbanShift’s finance offer to help local and regional governments ensure their projects’ bankability.
“It’s very difficult to transform ideas into projects, and that is the focus of TAP,” said Eszter Mogyorósy, Head of Innovative Finance for ICLEI. “We help shape the projects at the very early stages until they interest development banks and financiers.”
Through this dual approach of advocating for finance sector transformation and equipping city leaders with the resources to implement and scale transformative projects, the UrbanShift Latin America Forum aimed to catalyze a new era of climate action and resilience across the region.
Harnessing the Power of Urban Bioeconomies
Particularly in the heart of the Amazon, the conversation about urban development is inextricably linked to its impact on natural ecosystems. Traditionally, urbanization has come at the expense of ecosystem health, with cities becoming “fundamentally detached from natural processes,” as noted by Sharon Gil, Program Manager and Cities Lead at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
But the UrbanShift Latin America Forum offered new models for urban development that center and strengthen natural systems and resources. During an ICLEI-led City Academy course on “Circular Economy Strategies for Sustainable Development,” participants explored innovative approaches to waste management and food production that can simultaneously preserve and protect natural assets while also stimulating local economies through the creation of green jobs.
“Waste is not a resource we are currently extracting financial value from,” said Magash Naidoo, Head of Circular Development at ICLEI. But city-level circular programs that collect and transform waste into useful goods, like construction materials, can keep pollution out of green areas and spur the development of new local sectors.
The course also introduced participants to ways that cities can advocate for policy changes to shift away from wasteful practices, such as the ICLEI-organized Local and Subnational Governments Coalition to End Plastic Pollution.
Beyond the circular economy, the UrbanShift Forum also delved into the concept of the urban bioeconomy as a means to fuel sustainable growth and protect natural resources. Rather than relying on extractive and wasteful production methods, a bioeconomy makes use of renewable, local biological resources to produce food, materials and energy, benefiting the health and economic well-being of local communities.
In Belém, the potential of an urban bioeconomy is already taking root. On nearby Combu Island, which Forum participants visited, Filha do Combu harvests cacao, processes it on the island, and circulates the resulting products through the Brazilian economy, including restaurants. By retaining full control of the production and distribution chain, Filha do Combu can ensure a stronger profit and local economic benefit while adhering to sustainable practices.
During the Forum, C40 Cities also convened discussions on how cities can collaborate with the private sector to develop and scale initiatives that strike a productive balance between the needs of developing cities and the constraints and potential of surrounding natural ecosystems. Through the City-Business Hub, participants from cities and the private sector explored strategies for partnering on sustainable approaches like urban bioeconomies and creating good, green jobs.
Integrating Nature into the Heart of Urban Resilience
Latin America is one of the most urbanized regions in the world, with over 80% of its population living in cities. In this context, the challenge of growth revolves less around expanding urban footprints and more around maximizing and strengthening existing urban infrastructure to create more resilient and equitable cities.
As Latin American cities have grown, informal settlements have proliferated, with around 21% of urban residents now living in these areas. “These areas are most vulnerable to climate change and face a lot of risks,” said Pablo Lazo, Director of Urban Development at WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities.
“We are in an emergency situation due to climate change,” added Anacláudia Rossbach, former Director for Latin America and Caribbean at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and current Executive Director of UN-Habitat. “We are facing more conflicts and disasters that will require action, and we have to be able to respond in a coordinated way and use this moment to strengthen our response infrastructure and resilience.”
A key focus of the UrbanShift Latin America Forum was on ensuring the resilience of urban areas, especially informal settlements, amid the intensifying climate crisis. Participants in the City Academy course on “Accommodating Urban Growth” learned how planning with nature can provide benefits to urban residents, from lowering temperatures to improving air quality, while also combating ecosystem erosion.
“Urban expansion can be more informed and better planned to ensure cities integrate nature into their planning and work toward the goals of reducing biodiversity and nature loss,” said Aloke Barnwal, Senior Climate Change Specialist at the GEF.
Comprehensive city planning processes that take a climate action lens are essential to strengthening present and future resilience. Guillermo Orbegozo Malca, Executive Director of the Metropolitan Planning Institute for Lima, Peru, described how the city is approaching its resilience planning, working with communities to upgrade informal settlements, integrate green spaces, and improve transportation options.
“The idea is to empower families so they can work with this development approach, to improve their health and access to recreation,” he said.
Even in highly urbanized regions like Latin America, cities are not stagnant. They hold immense potential to evolve and become more resilient, focusing on strategies like adding housing density, implementing low-carbon transportation, and integrating nature-based climate change mitigation solutions.
Most importantly, cities can work directly with the residents most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and economic volatility to ensure their stability, well-being and empowerment. As Cibele Assmann, Urban Planner for the city of Florianopolis, Brazil, emphasized, “We need complete neighborhoods for all. We see how the lack of connectivity contributes to traffic, emissions and lower quality of life. We need to centralize resources and create neighborhoods where resources are accessible to all.”
Embracing the Interconnected Nature of Urban Sustainability
The UrbanShift Latin America Forum tackled a broad range of issues, all of which must be understood as part of the same interconnected conversation. Resilient and sustainable urban development depends on new and innovative approaches to financing, alongside thoughtful, people-centered development strategies.
By galvanizing a diverse range of stakeholders – from city leaders and urban planners to financiers and environmental experts – the Forum created a platform for cross-pollination of ideas and the co-creation of transformative solutions. As cities in Latin America and beyond continue to grapple with the pressing challenges of climate change, this collaborative spirit will be essential in laying the foundation for a greener, more resilient future.
As Belém prepares to host COP30 and showcase the vital role of the Amazon region in global climate discussions, the lessons and insights generated at the UrbanShift Latin America Forum will undoubtedly continue to ripple outward, inspiring cities across the region and around the world to take bold, innovative steps towards a more sustainable and equitable urban landscape. The time for action is now, and UrbanShift stands ready to support cities in leading the charge.
