Karatay, Konya, Türkiye– June 26-27, 2024 – The UCLG-MEWA Executive Bureau Meeting featured a pivotal session on urban climate finance, organized by the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy (GCoM) and led by Carolina Mesa, Global City Advisor, and Shaden Al Galaythe, Regional City Advisor. The session, held on the second day of the meeting, focused on addressing the financial challenges cities face in mitigating and adapting to climate change. It convened representatives from over 20 cities across the Middle East and West Asia (MEWA) region, including Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey.
The GCoM-Gap Fund Interactive Session was moderated by Süeda Aslan, a Research Officer at UCLG-MEWA. The session aimed to provide crucial insights into the functioning mechanisms of the Gap Fund and the implementation of Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans (SECAP) across the Middle East and West Asia (MEWA) region.
The session featured presentations from Ertuğrul Selçuk Güldüler, Vice Mayor of Bağcılar Municipality (Türkiye), Leila Yousef from Greater Irbid Municipality (Jordan), and Nisreen Daoud, Manager of Sustainable Development and Amman Resilience Unit at Greater Amman Municipality (Jordan), as well as Daiva Matoniene, project Team Leader for the EU4r Energy Transition in Türkiye.
During the interactive session, several key takeaways emerged from the discussions with city representatives:
- City Commitment to Climate Action: Cities demonstrated their dedication to sustainable urban development through diverse studies and SECAPs. The next crucial step identified is to collaborate with cities to develop these initiatives into bankable project proposals, preparing them for funding support—where the Gap Fund plays a pivotal role in bridging the gap.
- Need for Tailored Financial Solutions: Cities emphasized the necessity for financial solutions that are specifically tailored to their unique challenges and contexts. This includes flexible funding mechanisms that can adapt to varying scales and types of projects.
- Capacity Building and Technical Assistance: There was a consensus on the importance of capacity building and technical assistance to help cities prepare and implement effective climate action plans. Participants highlighted the role of the Gap Fund in providing such support.
- Sustainable Energy and adaptation Initiatives: Discussions also focused on the implementation of solid waste management projects, energy efficiency and adaptation projects.
- National contribution and financial opportunities: alignment the project-idea with the national priorities and looking for financial opportunities are key to increase the chances of implementation
The Greater Amman Municipality’s Manager of Sustainable Development and Amman Resilience Unit, Nisreen Daoud, commented on their experience with the Gap Fund, explaining how the idea originated, main outcomes of the technical assistance, next steps and recommendations for cities going to start the application process.
