Cost-effective and fair adaptation. Implementation challenges and financing opportunities for nature-based solutions in cities

Nature-based solutions are being used in cities around the world to tackle a range of urban challenges including urban heat islands, flooding, biodiversity loss, and public health issues - all exacerbated by the worsening impacts of climate change. Urban spaces often act as laboratories in which nature-based solutions are prioritized and translated into planning and implementation.

Urban green infrastructure is defined by the European Commission (2016) as “a strategically planned network of natural and semi-natural areas, with environmental features designed and managed to provide a wide range of ecosystem services. It incorporates green or blue spaces and other physical structures in terrestrial, freshwater, and marine areas”. Nature-based Solutions are actions for the protection, recovery and sustainable management of natural or modified ecosystems that help to promote human well-being and the protection of local biodiversity (IUCN, 2020).

Since its launch in 2021, the City Climate Finance Gap Fund has been increasingly requested to support the preparation of urban investment projects focused on the use of Nature-based Solutions for climate adaptation purposes in several countries, such as Brazil, Colombia, Ukraine, Montenegro, Fiji and Bangladesh. The Gap Fund is a project preparation facility jointly implemented by the World Bank and the EIB, in partnership with GIZ. It provides technical assistance for the preparation of early-stage climate action projects in cities in low and middle-income countries.

This event will provide a knowledge sharing and capacity development opportunity for cities and local authorities, particularly in low and middle-income countries. It will be structured as a panel discussion among cities who have received or are currently receiving support from the Gap Fund to prepare the use of nature-based solutions and green infrastructure as a means to increase resilience to the effects of climate change, and experts with significant track record on implementing and financing similar projects at the city level. At the same time the Gap Fund partner cities will serve as resource peers for other cities in the audience to address their questions and concerns.

The cities will be able to bring forward concrete issues they are facing in implementing these projects, from the technical, economic or financial point of view, and obtain solid on-the-spot feedback from the experts. The participation of the audience to share their experiences or bring additional insights will be encouraged, to ensure a lively discussion and maximise the depth of the exchange.