Aligning Policy and Finance to Deliver Sustainable Local Development: Mobilizing Finance to Reach Cities
The global community has committed to advancing sustainable development through frameworks such as the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement. Achieving these objectives requires a significant increase in investments in climate action and resilient infrastructure at the local level.
The panel explores how enhanced cooperation between national and local governments, the private sector, and IFIs can influence asset owners, mobilize greater resources and accelerate progress toward the SDGs. It aims to showcase how stronger policy alignment and improved financing structures can help channel investment toward local climate-responsive and SDG-aligned projects.
Framing
This short section provides context for the event to ensure all participants, regardless of prior knowledge, are equipped to engage with the discussion.
A persistent gap exists between global financial commitments – such as the triple adaptation finance by 2035 – and the mechanisms that allow resources to reach cities, where a large share of climate mitigation, adaptation, and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) implementation takes place. Local and Regional Governments (LRGs) play a critical role in translating global sustainability agendas into concrete actions, yet they often lack direct access to financial resources and investment instruments. Connecting them with and assisting them to talk to International Financial Institutions (IFI) and private investors might be part of the solution.
