A European Union informed that a group of 112 cities aiming to eliminate their net greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 would need 650 billion euros (around $696 billion) in investments to deliver the pledge.
The EU launched a “Climate City Capital Hub” to facilitate funding. This hub will use guarantees from national governments to attract private finance and combine smaller projects that typically find it difficult to secure funding independently.
Various methods, such as creating local investment funds or issuing bonds for specific projects, can be used to obtain both public and private funding.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) will also collaborate with the hub to provide financial and technical aid to cities to help them implement their respective plans.
Teresa Czerwinska, EIB Vice President, said, “The EIB provides over a quarter of our lending to cities, and as Europe’s climate bank, we are keen to work with cities to help them implement their climate-neutrality investments.”
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“100 Climate Neutral and Smart Cities” is an initiative by the European Union that aims for selected countries to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. The EU, consisting of 27 countries and Britain, has set its own deadlines for this.
Out of 377 cities that applied, 100 from the EU and 12 from associated countries were selected. These cities are now crafting climate plans with support from the EU and the non-profit advisory firm Bankers without Boundaries (BwB).
The plan is then transformed into an investment blueprint, which the European Commission and independent experts evaluate. Once approved, the city is awarded a label to confirm its status.
So far, 33 cities have had their plans approved.
