Publication: Financing a Resilient Urban Future: A Policy Brief on World Bank and Global Experience on Financing Climate-Resilient Urban Infrastructure
Loading...
Published
2018-12-01
ISSN
Date
2018-12-27
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
In the coming decades, climate change will force cities to grapple with new operating conditions to construct and maintain key urban infrastructure. Strategies for covering the costs of climate-resilient upgrades will vary by locale, reflecting differing market, regulatory, and policy circumstances. This policy brief draws on World Bank experience and datasets and a review of academic and grey literature on financing three core urban infrastructure systems – water, transport, and energy. It seeks to answer the question of what funding and financing instruments may be available to local governments and infrastructure system operators in different cities around the world, and how these link back to the climate challenges they may face. This brief was developed as part of the Financing Climate Futures initiative, a joint effort of OECD, UN Environment, and the World Bank Group.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“World Bank Group. 2018. Financing a Resilient Urban Future: A Policy Brief on World Bank and Global Experience on Financing Climate-Resilient Urban Infrastructure. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/31068 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Financing Environmental Services in Developing Countries(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2010-12-01)Current international financing (primarily ODA) for environmental services in developing countries is very roughly estimated to be upwards of $21 billion annually (not including climate change financing), but additional resources on the order of tens, if not hundreds, of billions of dollars are needed. In 2009, environmental ODA was estimated at $18 billion with a few billion more delivered through philanthropic and market-based financing channels. Although there are only a few studies of the additional financing needed, and those are relatively narrow in scope, the estimates that are available clearly indicate that significantly higher levels of finance still need to be reached. Additionally, the impacts of environmental finance on environmental sustainability and development objectives are poorly understood. Systematic reviews of previous experience, and standardized monitoring in the future, would support the countries and projects monitored, while also providing important lessons for the broader development and environment communities.Publication Brazil Country Program Evaluation, FY2004-11 : Evaluation of the World Bank Group Program(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2014-10-27)This country program evaluation (CPE) evaluates World Bank Group (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), or the Bank, International Finance Corporation (IFC), and Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) operations in Brazil from FY2004 through FY2011. It seeks to answer two questions: to what extent was the Bank Group program relevant to Brazil's development needs?, and how effective were Bank Group operations in helping to accelerate economic growth and making growth more inclusive and environmentally sustainable? The period reviewed was covered by two country strategies, one for FY2004-07 and the other for FY2008-11. The evaluation comments on aspects of the country partnership strategy (CPS) FY2012-15 with particular reference to its relevance and design. The report aims to extract lessons relevant to future Bank Group operations in Brazil. The study also examines the synergies between lending and knowledge services and the effectiveness of collaboration within the Bank Group and with external development partners. This report has five chapters. Chapter one gives purpose and country context. Chapter two summarizes the Bank Group operations and examines trends and patterns during the evaluation period. Chapters three and four assess the relevance and contributions of these operations to the objectives stated in the country strategies. The concluding chapter draws lessons and recommendations for the Bank Group's future engagement in Brazil.Publication Climate Finance in the Urban Context(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2010-11)Cities and the people who live in them account for more than 80 percent of the world's total greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, more than 80 percent of the overall annual global costs of adaptation to climate change are estimated to be borne by urban areas. This issues brief looks at potential financing opportunities and costs of mitigation and adaptation in the urban context. Wide-ranging potential sources for finance for climate action are described, and suggestions are made for more effective responses to climate investment challenges in cities.Publication Adapting to Climate Change in Europe and Central Asia : Lessons from Recent Experiences and Suggested Future Directions(Washington, DC, 2012-06-28)Like other regions, Eastern Europe and Central Asia is vulnerable to climate change and its potential socioeconomic impacts. While all countries are facing warmer temperatures, a changing hydrology, and more extreme events (for example, floods and droughts) and are concerned about the level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, they differ in their financial and institutional capacities to respond. Therefore, especially for the most vulnerable countries in the region (for example, those in Central Asia and southern Europe), adapting to climate risk adds a new dimension to the challenges of development, but also provides an opportunity to revisit priorities and accelerate reforms. The Europe and Central Asia (ECA) Region of the World Bank has been actively working on climate-related projects and has advanced a number of initiatives in response to climate change since the 1990s. Nevertheless, up until a few years ago the region's focus was mainly on emissions reduction (mitigation), rather than on helping countries respond to existing or expected impacts from climate change through adjustments in natural or human systems. But more recently, adding focus on climate adaptation had led ECA to initiate a program of analytical work and pilot investment projects to help develop the information and knowledge base necessary to help build staff skills as well as better respond to client needs.Publication Unlocking Land Values for Urban Infrastructure Finance : International Experience--Considerations for Indian Policy(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2013-10)Despite strong economic growth, investment in basic urban infrastructure -- water supply, wastewater removal and treatment, roads, and other capital-intensive systems -- has failed to keep pace with urban growth, leaving a critical urban infrastructure deficit. At the same time, urban lands in these many developing countries are among the most expensive in the world. Much of this land is owned by public authorities. Significant parts of it lie vacant, unused for public service provision or inappropriate for conversion to higher-valued economic activity. A composite public-sector balance sheet for India's urban areas would show an asset mix strong on public-sector landholdings but weak on infrastructure. This raises the following questions: Can some excess public-sector land be exchanged for infrastructure, in a manner that is politically acceptable and economically efficient? Can public land sales be a realistic source of finance for critically needed urban infrastructure investment? This paper considers the policy context that has shaped different land-disposal and earmarking initiatives, provides details about the actual workings of institutions, and examines international experience in infrastructure investment. This study contributes to the consultative process underway in India to consider strategies to unlock public land values to help finance urban infrastructure investment.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Digital Africa(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-03-13)All African countries need better and more jobs for their growing populations. "Digital Africa: Technological Transformation for Jobs" shows that broader use of productivity-enhancing, digital technologies by enterprises and households is imperative to generate such jobs, including for lower-skilled people. At the same time, it can support not only countries’ short-term objective of postpandemic economic recovery but also their vision of economic transformation with more inclusive growth. These outcomes are not automatic, however. Mobile internet availability has increased throughout the continent in recent years, but Africa’s uptake gap is the highest in the world. Areas with at least 3G mobile internet service now cover 84 percent of Africa’s population, but only 22 percent uses such services. And the average African business lags in the use of smartphones and computers as well as more sophisticated digital technologies that catalyze further productivity gains. Two issues explain the usage gap: affordability of these new technologies and willingness to use them. For the 40 percent of Africans below the extreme poverty line, mobile data plans alone would cost one-third of their incomes—in addition to the price of access devices, apps, and electricity. Data plans for small- and medium-size businesses are also more expensive than in other regions. Moreover, shortcomings in the quality of internet services—and in the supply of attractive, skills-appropriate apps that promote entrepreneurship and raise earnings—dampen people’s willingness to use them. For those countries already using these technologies, the development payoffs are significant. New empirical studies for this report add to the rapidly growing evidence that mobile internet availability directly raises enterprise productivity, increases jobs, and reduces poverty throughout Africa. To realize these and other benefits more widely, Africa’s countries must implement complementary and mutually reinforcing policies to strengthen both consumers’ ability to pay and willingness to use digital technologies. These interventions must prioritize productive use to generate large numbers of inclusive jobs in a region poised to benefit from a massive, youthful workforce—one projected to become the world’s largest by the end of this century.Publication Europe and Central Asia Economic Update, Spring 2025: Accelerating Growth through Entrepreneurship, Technology Adoption, and Innovation(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-04-23)Business dynamism and economic growth in Europe and Central Asia have weakened since the late 2000s, with productivity growth driven largely by resource reallocation between firms and sectors rather than innovation. To move up the value chain, countries need to facilitate technology adoption, stronger domestic competition, and firm-level innovation to build a more dynamic private sector. Governments should move beyond broad support for small- and medium-sized enterprises and focus on enabling the most productive firms to expand and compete globally. Strengthening competition policies, reducing the presence of state-owned enterprises, and ensuring fair market access are crucial. Limited availability of long-term financing and risk capital hinders firm growth and innovation. Economic disruptions are a shock in the short term, but they provide an opportunity for implementing enterprise and structural reforms, all of which are essential for creating better-paying jobs and helping countries in the region to achieve high-income status.Publication Classroom Assessment to Support Foundational Literacy(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-03-21)This document focuses primarily on how classroom assessment activities can measure students’ literacy skills as they progress along a learning trajectory towards reading fluently and with comprehension by the end of primary school grades. The document addresses considerations regarding the design and implementation of early grade reading classroom assessment, provides examples of assessment activities from a variety of countries and contexts, and discusses the importance of incorporating classroom assessment practices into teacher training and professional development opportunities for teachers. The structure of the document is as follows. The first section presents definitions and addresses basic questions on classroom assessment. Section 2 covers the intersection between assessment and early grade reading by discussing how learning assessment can measure early grade reading skills following the reading learning trajectory. Section 3 compares some of the most common early grade literacy assessment tools with respect to the early grade reading skills and developmental phases. Section 4 of the document addresses teacher training considerations in developing, scoring, and using early grade reading assessment. Additional issues in assessing reading skills in the classroom and using assessment results to improve teaching and learning are reviewed in section 5. Throughout the document, country cases are presented to demonstrate how assessment activities can be implemented in the classroom in different contexts.Publication Morocco Economic Update, Winter 2025(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-04-03)Despite the drought causing a modest deceleration of overall GDP growth to 3.2 percent, the Moroccan economy has exhibited some encouraging trends in 2024. Non-agricultural growth has accelerated to an estimated 3.8 percent, driven by a revitalized industrial sector and a rebound in gross capital formation. Inflation has dropped below 1 percent, allowing Bank al-Maghrib to begin easing its monetary policy. While rural labor markets remain depressed, the economy has added close to 162,000 jobs in urban areas. Morocco’s external position remains strong overall, with a moderate current account deficit largely financed by growing foreign direct investment inflows, underpinned by solid investor confidence indicators. Despite significant spending pressures, the debt-to-GDP ratio is slowly declining.Publication Argentina Country Climate and Development Report(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-11)The Argentina Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) explores opportunities and identifies trade-offs for aligning Argentina’s growth and poverty reduction policies with its commitments on, and its ability to withstand, climate change. It assesses how the country can: reduce its vulnerability to climate shocks through targeted public and private investments and adequation of social protection. The report also shows how Argentina can seize the benefits of a global decarbonization path to sustain a more robust economic growth through further development of Argentina’s potential for renewable energy, energy efficiency actions, the lithium value chain, as well as climate-smart agriculture (and land use) options. Given Argentina’s context, this CCDR focuses on win-win policies and investments, which have large co-benefits or can contribute to raising the country’s growth while helping to adapt the economy, also considering how human capital actions can accompany a just transition.