Over the course of three weeks, from 7-28 October 2020, ICLEI and the Federal City of Bonn are organizing the Daring Cities Conference – a virtual, global forum for urban leaders tackling the climate emergency.

The GIZ project “Climate Policy Meets Urban Development”, together with adelphi, will host a session on the importance of multi-level governance for a global recovery.

Local governments are facing a double crisis. As the urgent response to COVID-19 is unfolding and climate impacts continue to affect cities, local institutions will need to build a resilient future responding on these two fronts. National governments can support by designing and providing enabling frameworks for recovery.

In this event, we will harvest from existing practical experiences of collaboration across governance levels that have been tested, revisited and demonstrated on the ground. Participants will learn directly from local and national policymakers and their allies about common obstacles and success strategies for implementing local climate projects and access finance, which can in turn aid in the progressive development of more ambitious national targets. Participants will be able to apply the practical insights into their own work along the entire policy cycle—from planning processes to financing climate action.

Speakers

Moderator: Paola Adriázola, Senior Advisor, adelphi (confirmed)

Welcome & Opening, Carmen Vogt, Head of Cities Group, GIZ (confirmed)

Part A – Practical exchange: Collaborative climate strategies on the ground

Pitch 1:
Local Planning Driving Transformative Actions in the Philippines: Ormoc City’s Innovations

Hon. Richard Gomez, Mayor, City of Ormoc, Philippines (tbc)

Ormoc’s experience demonstrates that local climate action plan is not merely a piece of paper that is required by national government, but a key process that can help the city attract green funds, gain buy-in and allies in society and improve local governance.

Pitch 2:
Pathways for Financing Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Actions: the Case of Kenyan Counties

Peter Odhengo, Head of the Climate Finance Unit, Kenyan National Treasury (tbc)

Kenya has advanced a groundbreaking climate change regulatory framework that is designed to accelerate the green economy, while assigning wide responsibility and financial benefit sharing to its 47 counties. Participants will learn about concrete challenges and opportunities arising in this framework.

Pitch 3:
Ensuring Finance for Low-Carbon Urban Infrastructure: Linking to Nationally Determined Contributions

Marco Schiewe, Project Manager, Financing Energy for Low-carbon Investment – Cities Advisory Facility, GIZ and European Investment Bank (confirmed)

FELICITY is a project preparation facility of GIZ and the European Investment Bank (EIB) designed to support low-carbon urban projects that have significant impact on economic development. Participants will learn about the linkages with NDCs and practical lessons from the facility’s first 3 years of operation.

Part B – Open Discussion in parallel breakout groups

Facilitators: Lia Weitz, Lisa Strauch adelphi, Judith Voß-Stemping, GIZ

Participants will be able to select one of the pitches to dive into the details of one of the three cases presented in Part A. The speakers that presented the pitches will be available for questions and discussion in smaller moderated groups.