What we are doing
Cities consume two-thirds of the world’s energy and account for about 70% of global greenhouse emissions. It’s clear that traditional urban development approaches are inadequate to tackle the complex, overlapping challenges posed by rapid urbanization and the climate crisis. A change in course is essential, not only to meet shared climate and sustainable development goals, but to provide a just, livable future for all urban citizens.
GEF’s UrbanShift Global Platform brings together global, national, and local champions that want to work together towards a common vision of sustainable and integrated development. The project will complement and provide a common structure and cohesion to child project investments, through the creation of a knowledge sharing and learning platform, that will help to build momentum, raise ambitions, secure commitments, and implement integrated solutions on the ground. The UrbanShift Global Platform will create opportunities for cities to see and be inspired by peer cities advancing the sustainability agenda, share stories and work through challenges, build relationships and mobilize, and build capacity to implement sustainable, integrated approaches at the local level. A virtuous and reinforcing circle will emerge between the UrbanShift’s Global Platform and the Child Projects, where the capacity development informs the implementation of more innovative, sustainable, and integrated projects, which in turn set an example for replication within the city, country and beyond, serving as an inspiration for others, an outlet for knowledge and further building capacity in its wake.
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How we are tracking
Comp 1 - Sustainable and integrated urban planning and policy reform
Local and/or national governments have strengthened governance, institutions, processes, and capacities to undertake evidence-based, sustainable, inclusive, integrated planning and policy reform
Measured by:
1. # of countries that improve enabling framing conditions to support multi-level integration and policy reform
2. # of cities with improved evidence-based sustainable, inclusive, integrated plans and processes
Comp 2 - Sustainable integrated low carbon, resilient, conservation or land restoration investments in cities
Local and national governments have undertaken sustainable integrated low carbon, resilient, conservation or land restoration investments in cities
Measured by:
3. $ USD of sustainable integrated low carbon, resilient, conservation or land restoration demonstrations and/or investments [including leveraged]
4. # of cities with sustainable integrated low carbon, resilient, conservation or land restoration investment plans or project pipelines
Comp 3 - Innovative financing and scaling-up
Local and national governments initiate innovative financing and business models for scaling-up sustainable urban solutions
Measured by:
5. # of cities with enhanced access to financing for scaling-up sustainable urban solutions
6. # of cities and countries that have initiated innovative financial mechanisms and/or business models for scaling-up sustainable urban solutions
7. $ USD leveraged through the innovative financial mechanisms and business models for scaling-up sustainable urban solutions
Comp 4 - Advocacy, Knowledge Exchange, Capacity Building, and Partnerships
Policy making and action are influenced at local, regional and national levels to promote sustainable and inclusive cities
Measured by:
8. # of resolutions and/or commitments to advance urban sustainability and inclusiveness in high-level policy making events
9. # urban practitioners that used the knowledge acquired from the training or materials from the SCIP GP (gender disaggregated)
10. # of cities that have more ambitious environmental targets for their sustainable and inclusive integrated plans
11. # of cities that have shared their good practices and lessons learned with the SCIP GP
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What we are achieving
UrbanShift aims to support cities in two ways:
LOCAL PROJECTS : Through on-the-ground investments in participating cities, we engage directly with local officials, urban practitioners and national governments to plan and implement innovative, cross-cutting solutions that address multiple urban issues. These solutions apply pilot approaches that can be easily scaled up and replicated and cover a range of focus areas, from sustainable transport to affordable housing, green infrastructure to waste management and more.
GLOBAL ACTIVITIES: To complement our local projects, we've created a suite of capacity-strengthening activities to connect cities with global expertise and cutting-edge research in the field of integrated urban development. These activities tap into the unique capabilities and extensive networks of our partner organizations and offer cities opportunities to enhance their strategic urban planning skills, engage with the private sector, and exchange best practices with their peers at virtual and in-person events.
ICLEI leads project implementation in the Asian project countries – India, Indonesia and China - in the UrbanShift Global Project.
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