2015-2025: 10 Years of Sustainable Urban Development in the International Climate Initiative

In 2025, the International Climate Initiative (IKI) looks back on 10 years of “sustainable urban development”: This topic has been an overarching focus within IKI’s funding areas since 2015. Globally, well over 100 IKI projects on sustainable urban development have been implemented in more than 50 countries to date.
2015 was also the year for two important multilateral agreements: The Paris Agreement was adopted at the 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21). The key role of cities as actors in climate protection was formally recognized for the first time in these climate negotiations. In the same year, a global sustainability goal specifically for cities was adopted as part of Agenda 2030: “Sustainable Cities and Communities” (SDG 11). One year later, in October 2016, the New Urban Agenda was adopted at the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) and subsequently approved by the United Nations General Assembly.
IKI projects have been supporting the policies of the partner countries and cities in developing strategies for sustainable, climate-friendly and resilient urban development, with the IKI Strategy 2030 placing special attention on integrative and sustainable approaches for the development of urban and peri-urban areas. On the side of urban climate mitigation IKI projects, the focus is on participatory development of local climate action plans, the vertical and horizontal integration of climate action strategies and policies, and on financing mechanisms for activities to reduce global emissions. In the area of adaptation to climate change, the focus lies on strengthening urban resilience by better preparing cities and disadvantaged neighbourhoods to face the challenges posed by climate change and reduce risks to the population, the environment and livelihoods. Urban biodiversity measures focus on integrating ecosystem services into urban development and promoting ecosystem-based adaptation measures.
The global, continued urbanization pressure coupled with high urban innovation potential shows that urban areas will need to continue to be highly relevant for climate and sustainability in the future. In recognition of this megatrend, the strategy of the International Climate Initiative up to 2030, has anchored the overarching long-term focus “Sustainable and climate-friendly development of urban and peri-urban areas”.
Urban and peri-urban areas are hotspots of emissions produced by transport, waste management and buildings (e.g. cooling, heat, building materials). They are under high adaptation pressure (e.g. heat island effects, flooding), and suffer from a loss of natural ecosystems and their services.
IKI projects can have a very high impact potential in this overarching priority area, as lock-in effects of unsustainable infrastructure systems and buildings can be proactively avoided through forward-looking urban, infrastructure and land use planning. At the same time, innovative nature-based solutions can create biodiversity-promoting habitats with high climate relevance in cities.
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