GrowGreen conference: Taking action to mobilise finance for creating green cities
Securing sufficient long-term financing for nature-based solutions is frequently a challenge for city governments, which limits the extent to which cities can successfully adapt to climate change. In March, GrowGreen hosted the European conference on innovative financing for creating green cities to bring together stakeholders to jointly find solutions.
Experts in valuing nature and the contributions it makes to climate change adaptation, designing business models for nature-based solutions and mobilising finance for integrating nature-based solutions in urban planning shared their knowledge. Interactive workshops enabled participants to discuss experiences, work through case studies and identify pathways for action.
Participants and partners of the conference committed to six actions to continue the progress made during the event:
1. Develop strategies for long-term maintenance of nature-based solutions.
2. Engage new stakeholders and beneficiaries about opportunities to save or earn money through nature-based solutions.
3. Co-design a reference standard for nature-based solutions with IUCN.
4. Develop case studies that profile the role of coordinators and facilitators in engaging other stakeholders and developing business models.
5. Embed nature-based solutions into a wider programme on sustainable urban development.
6. Review existing approaches to developing natural capital accounts, using key performance indicators, and collecting data.
Find more information on the outcomes of the interactive training workshops and sessions at the European conference on innovative financing for creating green cities in the conference report here.
The conference presentations are available:
Building business cases using economic valuation_Trinomics
Business model canvas_Connecting Nature
Closing the implementation gap_Deltares
Conference actions_Manchester Climate Change Agency
Decision support tools for green infrastructure_Natural Capital Project
Financing green roofs_Clever Cities
Financing nature-based solutions projects_LGI
Greater Manchester Natural Capital Investment Plan_GMCA
Green sponsorship Torino_proGIreg
Measuring and valuing impact for NBS_Clever Cities
Measuring impact of investment_IUCN Urban Alliance
Natural Capital Accounts for London Boroughs_Eftec
Nurturing nature-based resilience for cities_ClimateKIC
Participatory approach_ClimateKIC
Shaping the Business Case_NatureSquared
Solving the finance puzzle_Naturvation