Climate change and development Cities and climate

Growing urbanisation means that new housing and new infrastructure needs to be built. The goals of the Paris climate agreement cannot be achieved if the cities of the future are built mainly from cement, steel and glass, as was the case in the past. Construction therefore needs to become more efficient, climate-friendly and resource-saving. By modernising existing buildings and ensuring that new ones meet sustainability standards, by 2050 the energy consumption of buildings could be reduced by half. Nature-based solutions offer a sustainable alternative or additional option to technological approaches.

In the next 15 years, an estimated 93 trillion US dollars will need to be invested worldwide in climate-friendly and sustainable infrastructure – more than 4.5 times the gross domestic product of the US.

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Residential house in Tirana, Albania

Accordingly, a major share of German Financial Cooperation is already being directed towards urban infrastructure or towards supporting the urban population in our partner countries. As part of these efforts, innovative financing instruments are increasingly being used to mobilise private capital.

Furthermore, in order to continue supporting cities in coping with this massive need for investment, Germany has teamed up with partners from all over the world to launch the Leadership for Urban Climate Investments (LUCI) initiative.

LUCI assists cities and municipalities in developing and emerging countries in elaborating bankable, climate-smart infrastructure projects. This includes supporting them via a new City Climate Finance Gap Fund, which is to be used to mobilise up to four billion euros for climate-friendly infrastructure in cities. Furthermore, in collaboration with the cities network C40, the BMZ has been supporting cities’ efforts to prepare sustainable infrastructure projects for some time now.

The transport sector is the cause of more than a quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions. By 2050, the number of vehicles on the roads could have tripled to three billion. The consequences will be traffic jams, air pollution and higher emissions. Cities must therefore reduce motorised transport, promote public transport systems, cycling and walking, and make urban transport systems climate neutral, safe, accessible and affordable using innovative ideas and technologies.

With these goals in mind, German development cooperation activities are being used to support sustainable and innovative mobility in developing countries and emerging economies. The central implementation partnership for this is the Transformative Urban Mobility Initiative (TUMI), which was jointly launched in 2016 by the BMZ and ten partner organisations. TUMI combines investments in knowledge and infrastructure with the identification and promotion of innovative approaches in cities.

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Tram in Rio

The German government is supporting the expansion of modern and efficient transport systems like underground trains, trams and rapid transit buses, and the construction of footpaths and cycle routes. These measures are intended to make affordable, inclusive and environmentally-friendly forms of transport accessible to more people.

The switch to sustainable, climate-friendly mobility around the world calls for international cooperation and strong alliances. The transition to climate-friendly transport worldwide is being accelerated through the efforts of the Action towards Climate friendly Transport Initiative (External link) (ACT).

This alliance of more than 100 members – national and local governments, municipal associations, multilateral organisations, non-governmental organisations and businesses – is thus helping with the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement. German support within the framework of this alliance is being used, for example, to help prepare the procurement of 100,000 electric buses in developing and emerging countries.

Cities have to deal with growing volumes of waste. At the same time, roughly one quarter of the world’s population has no access to a regulated waste collection service. Open landfill sites and uncontrolled burning of waste cause the release of substances like methane gas and soot particles, which are harmful to the climate. Yet it would be possible to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by up to 20 per cent if systems were in place for avoiding waste and for a circular economy.

The BMZ is therefore supporting the efforts of partner countries and cities to provide their citizens with better waste management services, and to create a circular economy that will help protect the environment and save resources. Local, regional and national institutions are being encouraged to establish the necessary planning processes, legislative frameworks, infrastructure and systems for fees and funding. Private companies as well as informal waste collectors are being included here.

Besides protecting health and the environment, there is a special focus on climate-smart waste management systems. German development cooperation is part of providing support for the calculation of greenhouse gas emissions and working with international city networks like ICLEI (Local Governments for Sustainability). Furthermore, partner cities are also receiving support for expanding the recycling of valuable resources and the collection of organic waste. Germany is supporting the construction of waste treatment facilities and storage sites with control systems for capturing harmful landfill gas.

The BMZ also provides advice on environmental and safety standards, and on the necessary institutional and financial framework for waste-to-energy power generation. The areas covered include using landfill gas for energy purposes, building biogas plants and processing waste so it can be used as an alternative fuel in cement works.

Last but not least, German development cooperation measures are increasingly focusing on avoiding waste – and thus avoiding greenhouse gas emissions as well – by introducing circular economy approaches for consumption, production and commerce.