UN-Habitat and South Pole announce cities investment advisory platform to scale up climate finance under Cities Investment Facility
The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) and South Pole Carbon Asset Management Limited (South Pole) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish the Cities Investment Advisory Platform with the goal of enhancing and mobilizing greater levels of climate finance in cities. This platform aims to enhance climate mitigation efforts, reduce carbon emissions, in cities while promoting adaptation to the impacts of climate change that are already impacting cities.
Commenting on the announcement, Hans-Peter Egler, Director of Sustainable Infrastructure and Public Sector at South Pole said, “The association between UN-Habitat and South Pole will look to leverage both organization’s distinct strengths to support the Cities Investment Facility in achieving its objectives and enhancing the bankability of projects catalyzing climate finance at a local level.”
The Cities Investment Advisory Platform (CIAP) is governed under the Cities Investment Facility (CIF). CIF is an innovative multistakeholder and partner- driven initiative focused on unlocking institutional and commercial capital to finance sustainable and masterplan-integrated municipal development projects at the local level. CIF includes the world’s 46 least developed countries.
UN-Habitat and South Pole aim to close the financing gap in resilient sustainable infrastructure by developing this technical assistance facility. By increasing the number of projects that reach an investment-ready stage and catalyze institutional and commercial capital funding, great progress towards sustainable and resilient cities can be achieved.
As part of the agreement, UN-Habitat and South Pole will jointly implement the Cities Investment Advisory Platform to bridge the gap between resilient sustainable infrastructure projects and investor requirements.
The partnership will support upstream projects to align with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and become investment ready. In the City Investment Advisory Platform, project promoters will receive advice and guidance on project structuring, financial and technical due diligence, deployment of Technical Assistance capital (grants, reimbursable financing, loans, guarantees), getting projects to investment readiness, identification of blended finance scenarios and investment pathways (domestic and international exposures), and Sustainable Development Goals impact assessment using an SDG Project Assessment Tool.
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For more information, please contact:
Samiksha Dhingra, Manager, Sustainable Cities and Climate Finance, s.dhingra@southpole.com
About UN Habitat (www.unhabitat.org)
The United Nations Human Settlements Programme, UN-Habitat, is the United Nations entity responsible for sustainable urbanization. It has programmes in over 90 countries that support policymakers and communities to create socially and environmentally sustainable cities and towns. UN-Habitat promotes transformative change in cities through knowledge, policy advice, technical assistance, and collaborative action. Follow us on Twitter or LinkedIN.
About South Pole
South Pole, a social enterprise recognised by the World Economic Forum’s Schwab Foundation, is today the world’s leading climate solutions provider and carbon project developer. Since its creation in 2006, it has developed nearly 1,000 projects in over 50 countries to reduce nearly 200 million metric tonnes of CO2 emissions, and to provide social benefits to less privileged communities who are particularly vulnerable to climate change. Projects range from sustainable agriculture, forest conservation, waste management, to energy efficiency and decentralized renewable energy.
South Pole also advises thousands of leading companies on their sustainability journeys to achieve net-zero emissions. With its global Climate Solutions platform, South Pole develops and implements comprehensive strategies that turn climate action into long-term business opportunities for companies, governments and organisations around the world. South Pole is committed to becoming a B Corp globally across all of its local entities, building on its high B Corp score and existing B Corp certification in Germany, Australia, and the U.S.
For more information, visit https://www.southpole.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
