CICLIA: Cities and Climate in Africa

Why CICLIA

• Cities are now home to more than half of the world's population and the majority of its economic output, thus contributing significantly to climate change with almost 70% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. They also have the leverage to reduce these emissions through their responsibilities in the areas of land use, urban planning, transport, social and economic inclusion and natural resource and waste management. Therefore, 50 to 80% of the measures needed to adapt territories to climate change can be implemented at the local level: cities are therefore also a key player in resilience to the effects of climate change.
• African cities are especially vulnerable to the present and future impacts of climate change. On the one hand, they are often located in coastal or river areas and are therefore more exposed to rising water levels; regardless of their location, they are subject to extreme hydro meteorological events (floods, heat waves, etc.). On the other hand, their development is still mostly unsupervised: 40% of their growth takes place through the formation or densification of precarious neighbourhoods. The lack of sustainable infrastructure and essential services reinforces socio-economic inequalities, precariousness, and insecurity, particularly for women and the most vulnerable populations, and adds to the consequences of climate change on the daily lives of populations. 
  
  In order to undertake a just transition, cities are invited to play a leading role incontributing to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). According to the OECD, achieving at least 105 of the 169 SDG "targets" will depend on a sustained commitment from cities.

Since COP21 and its "action agenda", the role of cities in the fight against climate change has been strengthened. Cities are now developing strategies to make their public policies more sustainable and their urban development plans less emissive and more resilient. They are supported in this process by numerous partners (city networks, foundations, donors).

The operational implementation of these strategies in inclusive and sustainable urban investments requires financial resources and expertise. Funding and the carrying out of a pre-feasibility or feasibility study phase are too often the missing link in a structured climate strategy.

CICLIA, a facility for the preparation of urban climate co-benefit projects, was created to address this. CICLIA was one of the first funding and support mechanisms to incorporate climate issues into the preparation of projects for African urban populations.

Prepare

Financing and implementation of strategic frameworks and preliminary studies on sustainable city investment projects

• Support public authorities in the definition and the operationalisation of sectoral strategic frameworks (technical, regulatory, financial) and roadmaps for the deployment of "sustainable cities" programmes.
• Finance preliminary studies that are essential for the preparation of infrastructure investments and essential structuring services in the cities.
• Assist public authorities during the preparation phase of these investment projects and/or at the start of the project to ensure good adoption and the ability to replicate on other projects.

This mission aims to ensure good compliance with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), to maximise climate and social impacts and to make these projects fundable by local and international donors.

Strengthen

CICLIA strengthens the financial management capacities of cities to sustain the climate co-benefit investments supported.

This mission aims to support local authorities in developing strategies and action plans to optimize the mobilization of tax and non-tax revenues.

The objective is to enable them to get financial leeway to operate and maintain existing or planned urban infrastructure and services (transport stations, food markets, solid waste management, public lighting, etc.).

This proves crucial to ensure greater sustainability of investments and, more generally, to strengthen the resilience of cities facing crises (climatic, health, security, etc.), which weaken their financial resources.
 

Learn

Capitalisation and promotion of knowledge

The capitalisation of knowledge will allow for a better formalisation and structuring of innovative approaches in terms of sobriety and climate resilience, social inclusion, and proper financial governance of cities.

The aim of CICLIA is to collect good practices, disseminate, communicate, and hold events to enhance knowledge on sustainable cities in Africa (notes on capitalising on good practices, case studies, on-site videos and "experts' talks", etc.).

Further reading: Study trip to Lomé: overview of an instructive peer-to-peer exchange of experience and best practice