The Economic Case for Low-Carbon Cities

This paper compares job creation per dollar from various types of green investments vs. unsustainable investments. It also explores how to promote good jobs that have fair wages, job security, opportunities for career growth, safe working conditions, and are accessible for all. 

This paper makes the case for a coordinated or systems approach to urban finance. Traditional approaches to urban finance have often focused on actions that cities can take, such as issuing municipal bonds or securing a good credit rating. Much of the recent literature emphasizes mechanisms such as debt financing, public-private partnerships, and land value capture instruments. 

This paper explores the wealth of options available to national transport policymakers who wish to support more compact and connected urban development, and provides clear inputs on how to prioritise, broadening the focus from facilitating movement, to achieving true accessibility. It outlines different types of transport policy instruments and governance reforms and examines 21 widely discussed interventions – including five that global experts identified as particularly effective for making cities more accessible. It ends with guiding principles for choosing and implementing the options best suited to each national context. 

Prepared by Cambridge Econometrics (CE) with feedback from the New Climate Economy (NCE) team, this draft note summarises methodological aspects, modelled scenarios and macroeconomic results to provide empirical inputs to the NCE 2018 Global Commission Report. The aim of the modelling exercise was to illustrate examples of policies that can simultaneously promote economic growth and reduce the risks of climate change.  

National governments across Africa can enhance the effectiveness and accountability of multi-level governance by legally clarifying the roles and responsibilities of different international, national, and local actors. National governments are typically best placed to oversee matters such as the coordination of policy and regulatory frameworks; the efficiency and appropriateness of municipal boundaries; water basins; regional power grids; and intercity transport routes. In contrast, housing, sanitation, waste management, and urban transport benefit from local negotiation and coordination. 

In this paper, we conclusively demonstrate that there are many synergies between aspirations for urban development and the imperative for climate action. We draw on over 700 papers, focusing on the literature on low-carbon measures in the buildings, transport, and waste sectors. This systematic review clearly shows that low-carbon measures can help to achieve a range of development priorities, such as job creation, improved public health, social inclusion, and improved accessibility. 

The Global Commission on the Economy and Climate, and its flagship project the New Climate Economy, were set up to help governments, businesses and society make better-informed decisions on how to achieve economic prosperity and development while also addressing climate change.

It was commissioned in 2013 by the governments of Colombia, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Norway, South Korea, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The Global Commission, comprising, 28 former heads of government and finance ministers, and leaders in the fields of economics, business and finance, operates as an independent body and, while benefiting from the support of the partner governments, has been given full freedom to reach its own conclusions.

The Commission has published three major flagship reports: Better Growth, Better Climate: The New Climate Economy Report, in September 2014; Seizing the Global Opportunity: Partnerships for Better Growth and a Better Climate, in July 2015; and The Sustainable Infrastructure Imperative: Financing Better Growth and Development, in October 2016. The project has also released a number of country reports on Brazil, China, Ethiopia, India, Uganda, and the United States, as well as various working papers on cities, land use, energy, industry, and finance. It has disseminated its messages by engaging with heads of governments, finance ministers, business leaders and other key economic decision-makers in over 60 countries around the world. 

The Global Commission on the Economy and Climate, and its flagship project the New Climate Economy, were set up to help governments, businesses and society make better-informed decisions on how to achieve economic prosperity and development while also addressing climate change.

It was commissioned in 2013 by the governments of Colombia, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Norway, South Korea, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The Global Commission, comprising, 28 former heads of government and finance ministers, and leaders in the fields of economics, business and finance, operates as an independent body and, while benefiting from the support of the partner governments, has been given full freedom to reach its own conclusions.

The Commission has published three major flagship reports: Better Growth, Better Climate: The New Climate Economy Report, in September 2014; Seizing the Global Opportunity: Partnerships for Better Growth and a Better Climate, in July 2015; and The Sustainable Infrastructure Imperative: Financing Better Growth and Development, in October 2016. The project has also released a number of country reports on Brazil, China, Ethiopia, India, Uganda, and the United States, as well as various working papers on cities, land use, energy, industry, and finance. It has disseminated its messages by engaging with heads of governments, finance ministers, business leaders and other key economic decision-makers in over 60 countries around the world. 

This paper is a background review representing part of the initial phase of the Financing the Urban Transition work programme. The review builds on a growing body of research that highlights both the importance of national sustainable infrastructure and the need to develop more effective and efficient financing mechanisms for delivering compact, connected cities that meet the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. While progress has been made in both these areas over the last five years, there remains a policy gap between the international/national level and the municipal level.

This report explores the ways in which urban policy sectors are integrated (or fragmented) in ten case study countries: China, Colombia, Ethiopia, Germany, India, Mexico, Nigeria, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States. The analysis is based on the most recent and authoritative national-level policy documents. 

New mobility services could improve the lives of all urban inhabitants. This first ever global survey finds that applying three types of new mobility services – electric, on-demand minibuses, subsidized shared rides, and trip-planning and ticketing apps – can make public transport more affordable, accessible and sustainable, if integrated properly. 

This paper describes the relatively new phenomenon of publicly-capitalized green investment banks and examines why they are being created and how they are mobilizing private investment. 

Urbanisation is one of the most important potential drivers of productivity and growth in the global economy. But if countries and cities are to capture the productivity benefits of urban growth while minimising the costs, cities will need to shift to a more economically and environmentally sustainable growth pattern. This policy brief focuses on the role of national governments in mobilising and directing urban finance, with the aim of supporting policymakers and practitioners to think systematically about financing compact, connected, and coordinated urban development. 

Most developed countries now pursue policies that implicitly or explicitly aim at promoting compact urban form. This report analyses more than 300 academic papers that study the effects of compact urban form. 

Achieving climate and development goals without the full backing of business and investors is not possible. Fortunately, evidence shows that more and more businesses and investors are taking a lead – and saving costs and making money in the process. e Green Jobs Advantage:

Innovation is a fundamental engine of long-term economic growth, and a critical driver for reducing emissions and tackling climate risk. There is a need to scale up innovation efforts to reduce emissions cost-effectively beyond 2030 consistent with limiting dangerous climate change, in particular through supporting research, development and demonstration (RD&D) for technologies which have not yet been deployed at scale and are unlikely to without strong government support. 

Energy demand is projected to grow by a third in the next 15 years. A rapid scale-up of low-carbon energy sources and energy efficiency is essential to drive global growth, reduce the air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) associated with fossil fuel use and help provide reliable access to modern energy for those who lack it. This need has become more urgent following the global commitment made in the UN Paris Agreement in December 2015 to reducing net GHG emissions to zero in the second half of the century. 

In urban infrastructure the investment decisions taken today will shape tomorrow. Despite the critical importance of infrastructure for urban development, financing to scale up smarter, more sustainable urban infrastructure remains an immense challenge, particularly in emerging and developing economies. 

Investing in sustainable infrastructure is key to tackling the three central challenges facing the global community: reigniting growth, delivering on the Sustainable Development Goals, and reducing climate risk in line with the Paris Agreement. Transformative change is needed now in how we build our cities, produce and use energy, transport people and goods, and manage our landscapes. And the challenge is urgent. 

This report considers the complexities that underpin efforts to attract investment into sustainable infrastructure with a focus on project preparation. It reflects on experiences with project preparation support for infrastructure and potential shifts in approach needed to deliver the scale of investment required in sustainable infrastructure to achieve the SDGs and fulfil the goals of the Paris Agreement. 

This paper provides a review of how compact, connected, and coordinated cities can help generate stronger growth, create jobs, alleviate poverty, and significantly reduce the cost of providing services and infrastructure.