the cover of the report The Power of Cities: Harnessing Low-carbon Urbanization for Climate Action. The cover is a graphic-style illustration of an urban skyline with wind turbines in the background, in shades of blue and green.

The Power of Cities: Harnessing Low-Carbon Urbanization for Climate Action

This report from the World Bank highlights the need to integrate low-carbon urbanization into countries’ national climate change strategies and outlines the opportunities to bridge between national decarbonization and urban development goals.

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As countries strive to embed climate action into their development planning, incorporating low-carbon urban growth agenda into Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and Long-Term Low-GHG Emission Development Strategies (LTSs) can signal political commitment, foster coordination with local stakeholders, facilitate access to finance, and enable effective implementation. This report from the World Bank attempts to identify integrative solutions to overcoming barriers to integration related to countries’ policy frameworks and institutional structures; finance mobilization efforts; evidence-based policy processes; and tracking systems and proposes a Readiness Diagnostic Framework to help identify efforts needed at both national and city levels to pursue such integration. Additionally, it offers a Guide for Selecting Urban Diagnostic Tools and Models to enhance evidence-based urban climate policy processes in rapidly urbanizing countries.