Unlocking urban climate finance: barriers and progress in African cities

Informal settlements in sub-Saharan Africa, like those across many countries in the global South, are highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, despite their negligible contribution to global warming. Climate-related events are rapidly increasing in frequency, severity and duration.

This compounds other socioeconomic stressors and vulnerabilities, including rapid unplanned urbanisation, poverty, infrastructure deficits, depressed economic performance, inflation, gender inequalities and political instability.

Drawing on research from Accra, Harare, Kampala, Lagos and Nairobi, this briefing examines barriers and progress towards climate finance access and outlines institutional, financial and partnership pathways to enable more inclusive, locally-led urban climate action at scale globally.