E8 Towards low carbon and resilient cities: Financing ambitious and bankable climate action
As the areas in which most people live and work, cities are increasingly acknowledged as the arena in which solutions to major societal and environmental challenges must be developed and implemented. Cities are the world’s primary hubs of economic and cultural activity, a fact which is causing the rate of urbanization to increase at a rapid pace. This accelerated demographic change has put many cities under significant strain, with local governments often struggling to meet the higher demand for energy, water, health, education and transport services. The investment needed to shift to more low emission, climate resilient infrastructures is estimated to be around $90 trillion.
How can cities secure the capital needed until 2030? What solutions and business models have proven to be successful for local climate action and why? How can private and public sector work together to secure this low-carbon, climate resilient transition at the local level? These are among the issues that this session will tackle.
Keynote/ moderator
Eckart Würzner
Mayor, City of Heidelberg
Member of the Political Board of the European Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy
Speakers
Eszter Mogyorósy
Climate Finance Manager, ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability
Pam O’Connor
Council Member, Santa Monica, USA
Lindsay Ex
Climate Program Manager, Environmental Services Department City of Fort Collins, USA
Grant Ervin
Chief Resilience Officer, City of Pittsburgh, USA
Per-Arne Nilsson
Head of Environmental Strategy, Environmental Department, City of Malmö, Sweden
Romero Pereira
Executive Secretary of Special Projects, Secretariat for Sustainable Development and Environment, City of Recife, Brazil
Giorgia Rambelli
Head of Coordination Unit, International Urban Cooperation (IUC) Programme