Overview of the CCFLA Strategy 2025–2030

Why Urban Climate Finance, and Why Now?

Cities, regions, and local authorities are at the heart of the climate crisis. They generate over 70% of global greenhouse gas emissions while facing intensifying climate impacts, including heatwaves, floods, sea-level rise, and other climate-related shocks. As populations grow and urban areas expand, local governments face increasing pressure to deliver sustainable infrastructure and services that are not only climate-resilient and low-carbon but also enhance the quality of life and well-being of their residents. This transformation will require trillions of dollars in investment – yet, subnational actors, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, struggle to access the scale and type of climate finance needed to meet these needs.

The Urban Climate Finance Gap

While momentum is growing around the role of cities and subnational actors in climate action, the urban climate finance landscape remains fragmented, under-resourced and increasingly affected by geopolitical instability. Financing and funding flows are misaligned with local needs, capacities, and investment-ready project pipelines, resulting in a significant gap in urban climate finance. Cities and regions of all sizes face challenges accessing the scale and right types of finance needed – especially for adaptation and resilience. However, closing this gap also presents a powerful opportunity to rethink how financial systems, partnerships, and investment approaches can be structured to empower local leadership, strengthen local capacity, and align global commitments with local priorities. By aligning their efforts, stakeholders can unlock transformative investments that not only address climate goals, but also support more liveable, equitable urban environments.

CCFLA’s Role in the Ecosystem

The Cities Climate Finance Leadership Alliance (CCFLA) was established in 2014 to help close this gap and is today the leading global multi-stakeholder coalition dedicated to addressing the challenges of urban and subnational climate finance worldwide. With over 80 members from public, private, and third sectors, and led by a Secretariat hosted by the Climate Policy Initiative, CCFLA is a neutral, trusted platform that:

• Facilitates knowledge exchange and partnership across institutions.
• Aligns initiatives to create a more coordinated ecosystem.
• Elevates urban climate finance in global policy and finance agendas.

CCFLA’s 2025–2030 Strategy builds on the foundation developed over the past ten years, outlining how CCFLA will scale its impact, adapt to emerging trends, and drive system-level change in the way climate finance flows to cities and regions. While playing this global convening role, CCFLA has placed a strategic emphasis on enabling climate finance for cities and subnational actors in EMDEs, where barriers to investment are entrenched and systemic, but where potential for transformative and scalable urban climate solutions is significant.