At the UN Climate Change COP25, five frontrunner cities have been selected for their ambitious and potentially transformative urban climate projects that could receive technical support from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to get their projects off the ground. 

The projects focus on critical urban climate action including improving waste management, cutting river and ocean pollution, sustainable urban transport, greening urban spaces and enhancing urban resilience to the effects of climate change.

The proposal for Recife, the capital of Brazil’s northeastern state of Pernambuco, focuses on the rehabilitation and expansion of an existing urban park alongside a riverbank to improve sustainable mobility, reduce the risk of flooding and impact of heat waves while also contributing to carbon sequestration.

The recognition of Recife by the EIB and GCoM, among hundreds of projects from all over the world, comes at a very special moment after hosting the Brazilian Climate Conference and officially declaring the global climate emergency, 

Geraldo Júlio, Mayor of Recife, Brazil

The other four projects are:

• Cotonou, Benin, is striving to improve its waste management infrastructure and improve recycling and collection processes, fostering the creation of green jobs and entrepreneurship in the sector and reduce the amount of plastic discharge in its coastal lagoon.
• Makindye, Uganda, leads of a consortium of 4 municipalities in the Greater Kampala area and are developing a comprehensive climate action programme mainly focused on integrated waste management but including also energy efficiency and urban green areas.
• Monastir, Tunisia, is looking at ways to integrate nature-based solutions to enhance the city resilience, in particular in the city’s coastal area which is particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts.
• Jambi, Indonesia, is looking at ways to improve its traffic congestion in a climate-friendly way for instance by introducing of electric buses.

The Global Climate City Challenge is a joint initiative of the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Global Covenant of Mayors (GCoM), representing over 9,000 cities from six continents, to provide technical assistance that helps prepare and fast-track financing of urban climate action projects.