Urban climate finance in South Africa, India and Chile

‘Cities Fit for Climate Change’ is a global GIZ project, partnering with India, Chile and South Africa in supporting cities towards a low-carbon, climate-proof urban development model.

The study aims to comprehensively assess urban climate finance in the three partner countries, focusing on the cities of Durban, Chennai and Santiago de Chile, with OW carrying out the work in Durban, South Africa. The study produced recommendations aimed at improving municipal access to climate finance for climate related work, and improving integration of climate change into local planning. The study’s results  fed into national levels.

OneWorld’s role

OneWorld’s work included a desktop study and interviews with key experts. OneWorld conducted a detailed case study on eThekwini Municipality (Durban)  which aimed to:

i. assess urban climate finance readiness for accessing the GCF;
ii. build capacities to develop bankable projects that meet GCF criteria within the municipality; and,
iii. make recommendations for institutional strengthening for climate and development.

In 2017, OneWorld conducted further training in the municipality and contributed to the project’s synthesis analysis, noting that GIZ is a recently accredited GCF multinational implementing entity.

Alignment with the Nationally Determined Contributions:

One of the findings of the study was that at the sub-national levels, the responses to climate change were driven by local government’s mandate to deliver basic services, such as sufficient water resources of quality, and are not always aligned to the national commitments as set out in the countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). The study suggested ways to improve the structures for climate planning and finance to better achieve the national climate objectives and international targets as stated in NDCs. The study also produced recommendations for improving municipal access to climate finance for climate related work and improving integration of climate change into local planning. The study’s results feed into national levels.