Summary

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Financing Sustainable Urban Development: An Introduction Summary

Sustainable urban finance refers to investments that offer social, environmental, and economic benefits while attracting public funding and leveraging private financing.
With more than two-thirds of the world becoming urbanized by 2050, ramping up investments in sustainable urban services and infrastructure is crucial to meeting global climate goals.
Domestic public funding and finance for sustainable urban investment at the national and subnational level has largely been untracked.
International climate funds such as green bonds can help finance sustainable urban projects that save energy and reduce emissions. However, current investment in sustainable finance is meeting at most 13 percent of demand.
Cities are finding innovative ways to invest in a range of sustainable urban projects, including but not limited to electrifying public transport, improving active mobility through bike-sharing and safe biking and walking infrastructure, and improving energy efficiency in buildings. However, many investment needs are still pending.

Coming Soon

The next guide in this series will take a deeper look into the barriers cities face to finance sustainable urban development, along with a few of the ways cities are overcoming them.

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