Exploring Urban Climate Finance in the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)

Following a white paper launch at COP28 in collaboration with the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Global Covenant of Mayors and the UNESCO Chair on Urban Resilience at the University of Southern Denmark (SDU.Resilience) have delivered an update to their findings on the urban climate finance components of NDCs, suggesting that between USD 30-43 billion have been requested to realize urban action implementation in the 26 countries for whom information is available as of 28 August 2024.

Representing just 13% of all NDCs, these findings highlight the need for a systemic approach to the inclusion of estimated investments required to implement climate and energy action across cities and local governments.

Moreover, only 20% of these 26 NDCs are deemed to have "moderate to strong" urban content, as indicated in Urban Content of NDCs: Local climate action explored through in-depth country analyses: 2024 Report. Ensuring the inclusion of subnational activities and opportunities to act on mitigation and adaptation is crucial to strengthening NDC progress through multi-level governance, and this updated research indicates a significant gap in urban content.

GCoM and SDU.Resilience - in collaboration with UN-Habitat - seek to continue this research to support the inclusion of urban content - inclusive of financing needs - within and across NDCs and other national climate plans and policies.