World Bank and European Investment Bank conjointly launch the new “City Climate Finance Gap Fund”
On 24 September 2020, the World Bank and the European Investment Bank (EIB) launched the City Climate Finance Gap Fund to support the development of a project pipeline aiming at providing green urban infrastructure in emerging and developing countries.
The GAP Fund was announced at the United Nations Climate Action Summit 2019 and came into force a year later. Backed by Germany and Luxembourg with an overall funding of at least 100 million EUR, the fund aims to unluck an estimated 4 bn USD through additional donor support, technical assistance and targeted finance to transform urban climate aspirations into finance-ready projects.
To achieve this ambition, the “Fund for a new Urban Infrastructure” targets, amongst others, projects in sectors such as solid waste (water) management and circular economy activities in four key domains:
Address urban growth by providing city planners with tailor-made tools to enhance low-carbon, resilient planning and finance systems
Help city leaders build high-quality pipeline of climate-smart resilient urban infrastructure investments with the focus on project identification and preparation
Facilitate the connection between cities and perspective financing partners, including (International) Development Finance Institutions
Foster international collaborations to enable knowledge sharing
By doing so, the Gap Fund shall demonstrate that a coordinated, holistic approach is the way forward to cities and the planet. Under a new paradigm and sustainable priorities for climate-smart plans, its activities are meant to change urban settings and the formats that shape the cooperation between stakeholders and institutions.
For more information see the following links (including a dedicated website for the fund)
City Climate Finance Gap Fund: https://www.citygapfund.org/
City Climate Finance Gap Fund launch - Paving the way for low-carbon, resilient and liveable cities: https://www.eib.org/en/events/climate-week-gap-fund-launch.htm
A new fund for a new urban future: https://www.eib.org/en/stories/climate-smart-development