New finance hub to support cities in climate mitigation and adaptation

Cities account for more than 70% of global CO₂ emissions and consume over 65% of the world’s energy. Urban action is crucial for climate mitigation and achieving the EU’s target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030, and more generally delivering the European Green Deal.

The European Commission & European Investment Bank (EIB) are setting up the Climate City Capital Hub, a new finance resource for cities’ & regions’ mitigation and adaptation projects to tackle climate change.

The hub’s particular focus will be on engaging with capital providers, including lenders and investors from the public and private sectors (such as philanthropic and corporate capital, as well as innovative financing like crowdfunding and sustainability-linked bonds). Cities will also have access to financial advice on various ways of funding projects.

The hub will be run by the Commission’s Cities Mission implementation platform, which is currently managed by the project NetZeroCities, in cooperation with advisory services of the EIB.

In addition, the EIB has earmarked a €2 billion lending envelope to support cities’ plans to invest in energy, efficient buildings, district heating systems, renewable energy, sustainable mobility, urban renewal and regeneration, water and social infrastructure.

In parallel, the EU Mission for Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities has also collected in a Knowledge Repository more than 200 solutions that will help cities on their way to climate neutrality, from “Advanced Renovation Support” to “Zero Emission Buses”.

Source: The press release is available here