Annual Report 2024-2025
UrbanShift's final Annual Report spans an impactful year of over 30 events and major progress across our network of 23 cities.
UrbanShift's fifth and final year brought about remarkable urban transformation, and has paved the way for continued progress in the future. From the Green & Resilient UrbanShift Africa Forum in Nairobi to the final City Academy in Chengdu, China, this past year has been filled with milestone moments for collaboration, peer learning and capacity-building. We have also begun to see tangible transformation take root in the cities across our network.
The 2024-2025 UrbanShift Annual Report delves into not only the activities and key moments of this past year, but also reflects on the past five years of progress. In this report, you’ll read insights directly from UrbanShift’s core partners—UN Environment Programme, World Resources Institute, C40 Cities and ICLEI—encounter stories of impact from each of our nine countries and learn how UrbanShift aims to ensure its impact extends well beyond the end of the program. Make sure to download and read the report in full, and explore key highlights below.
Explore the report
Download the fourth and final UrbanShift Annual Report here and discover the impact of five years on building the sustainable cities we need for people and planet to thrive.
We shared stories of transformation from nine cities across the UrbanShift network
Meaningful progress in cities takes time—and over the past five years, cities within the UrbanShift network have begun to realize more sustainable futures:
Building an Equitable, Climate-Resilient Future in Freetown
From an inspiring study tour on urban cable cars to insight-filled trainings on climate action planning and finance, UrbanShift has supported Freetown—and all of Sierra Leone—to accelerate its climate goals.
After a devastating earthquake, Marrakech plans to build back with resilience
Reflecting on how, with UrbanShift's support, the city of Marrakech is making strides to enhance its urban nature and lower emissions.
Breathing New Life into 5 Kigali Wetlands to Enhance Climate Resilience and Quality of Life
These formerly degraded sites will soon welcome visitors for recreational and educational opportunities—while alleviating flood challenges for the city.
Visions of Sustainability in Mar del Plata and Mar Chiquita
Along the coast of Argentina, two ambitious plans are showing how participatory design and nature-based solutions can lay the groundwork for inclusive, climate-resilient outcomes.
How Teresina is Accelerating its Transition to a Green and Resilient City
From UrbanShift's capacity-building activities, this scorching city in northeastern Brazil is drawing inspiration and technical knowledge to build sustainability from the ground up.
Transforming a Dump Site in Costa Rica into a Community Green Space
In Costa Rica’s capital region, a locally led, GEF-funded effort to clean up trash provides a model for successful community regeneration initiatives.
How Ningbo is Paving the Way for Sustainable Development and Tourism
With the revitalization of Hangzhou Bay Wetland Park, Ningbo is proving the value of biodiversity-focused urban development.
Building Indonesia’s Approach to Waste Management in Balikpapan
As waste management poses a challenge across Indonesia, this city is showing how a community-based circular economy approach can address the crisis.
How Chennai is restoring Kadapakkam Lake with nature-based solutions
An UrbanShift spotlight on integrated water management, climate adaptation, and local innovation
We hosted 35 events and reached nearly 3,000 people
From the Green & Resilient UrbanShift Africa Forum to our final City Academy in Chengdu, China, UrbanShift’s capacity-building activities focused on equipping cities with tangible skills and resources to further transformation:
How African cities can develop to become green, resilient, and inclusive
During the Green & Resilient UrbanShift Africa Forum, leaders from across the continent united to learn and share insights on accelerating transformative urban planning approaches—and the finance needed to implement them.
Empowering Cities to Shape Climate Goals: Lessons from the UrbanShift China City Academy
On 1-3 July 2025, the Academy brought together over 120 participants from cities in China, India, Malaysia, Mongolia, and the Philippines, alongside national government representatives.
Local action to drive sustainable tourism for the communities and nature
How can we ensure tourism not only thrives but also helps protect our planet?
We developed new resources to further data-informed, integrating planning
Urban transformation requires constant innovation and knowledge-sharing. In this past year, UrbanShift reflected on the learnings and potential scalability of some of its most impactful capacity-building initiatives, and offered new and revamped resources to further sustainable development.
UrbanShift Labs
Summarizing insights and lessons from eight of UrbanShift's Labs, this report offers a template for furthering geospatial analysis in cities.
Building City Capacities for Urban Resilience: Three Learning Modules to Tackle Climate Risks
These self-study courses guide city officials through best practices for assessing climate risks and mitigating flood and heat hazards.
Meet CityMetrics: An Open-Source, Interactive Tool for Analyzing Urban Risks and Opportunities
With CityMetrics, a new geospatial data platform developed by WRI, over 60 cities--including all 23 UrbanShift cities--can access in-depth data on urban risks and vulnerabilities.
We spotlighted valuable perspectives from the partners who have made UrbanShift a success
Progress doesn’t unfold in silos. Over the past five years, UrbanShift’s unique partnership model has been core to its ability to connect with a broad range of stakeholders and inspire transformation:
UrbanShift Looks Back: Reflecting on the Impact of our Capacity-Building Offer
WRI’s Mariana Orloff and John-Rob Pool share highlights and learnings from our broad capacity-building efforts, from the City Academy to Peer-to-Peer Exchanges.
UrbanShift Looks Back: On the Value of Expanding Access to Urban Climate Finance
C40's Jessy Appavoo, ICLEI's André Almeida da Vila, and UNEP's Sharon Gil share why and how UrbanShift has prioritized support for cities to access climate finance.
UrbanShift Looks Back: Reflecting on Uniting Stakeholders for Climate Action
C40’s Viola Follini, Matheus Ortega, Emily White, Anelise Rosa, and Amaia Leonet discuss the value of bringing a wide range of sectors—from mayors to the private sector—to the table to accelerate urban transformation.
UrbanShift Looks Back: On the Importance of Facilitating Multi-Level Collaboration
Over the course of the UrbanShift program, ICLEI has led on National-Local Dialogues and other efforts to support enhanced collaboration across levels of government to create more aligned, actionable climate strategies.
UrbanShift Looks Back: On Changing the Conversation around the Role of Cities in Climate Action
Over the past five years, UrbanShift's advocacy efforts have helped to shape the conversation around the value of cities for driving transformative progress. UNEP's Gulnara Roll, Sharon Gil and Elsa Lefèvre share their reflections.
As we look forward, we are encouraged by the progress that's unfolded over the past five years to transform cities into the sustainable, equitable and livable places we and the planet need to thrive. We encourage you to learn more about what's in store for the GEF Sustainable Cities Impact Program and the future of UrbanShift here.
