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Porto Alegre is one of a number of cities in Latin America and Asia fighting climate change with the backing of FELICITY, a technical assistance programme that accelerates investments for decarbonizing cities led by the European Investment Bank and the German government’s Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit.

This kind of urban climate action is important because around 75% of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions are produced in cities—and cities are getting bigger all the time. On top of this, solid waste management in cities causes methane emissions, when treated poorly. Of the $93 trillion of sustainable infrastructure that the UN estimates needs to be built by 2030, over 70% is in urban areas.

Lower future emissions will depend on this urban infrastructure’s alignment with the Paris Agreement. It’s vital that we avoid investment decisions that lock-in a destructive pathway.

Tangible benefits from climate action in Latin America and Asia

The global transformation we need in cities, however, will advance quickly enough only if low-carbon solutions provide tangible benefits to citizens at the local level. That means a range of things, from lower energy costs to less noise and pollution from public transport.

FELICITY offers technical assistance to municipalities and financial intermediaries for ambitious investment projects that cut emissions in cities in Latin America and Asia. Currently, the facility is preparing five city-led projects in Brazil and Mexico on solar energy, energy efficiency, waste management and clean buses.

Now FELICITY is expanding to additional countries, including Ecuador and Indonesia, scouting for new urban champions and their climate action projects.

Urban climate action in Brazil and Mexico