Urban climate investment plans for unlocking multilevel financing

Cities are at the forefront of today’s urgent challenges, including climate change, housing and social resilience, while playing a key role in delivering solutions on the ground. Across Europe, cities are increasingly developing Climate Investment Plans (CIPs) as part of Climate City Contracts (CCCs) under the EU Mission for Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities by 2030. These plans translate local climate strategies into structured investment pipelines by identifying concrete projects needed to deliver climate neutrality, strengthen urban resilience and scale Nature-Based Solutions.

However, while many cities can now identify and prioritise these investments, accessing the right funding and financing remains a major challenge. Urban climate investments often require combining multiple funding sources across governance levels. Existing EU and national funding frameworks are not always aligned with cities’ investment pipelines, making it difficult to move projects from planning to implementation.

The aim of the workshop is to explore how Climate Investment Plans can connect city-level investment pipelines to EU and national funding frameworks and which elements of CIPs can be replicated by other cities. Strengthening multilevel alignment is essential to ensure identified investment needs can access appropriate financial instruments and that cities can mobilise both public funding and private finance.

The session brings together cities, finance experts such as the European Investment Bank (EIB), and representatives across governance levels to discuss how EU policy frameworks and funding instruments can better respond to urban investment pipelines. A Mission City shares its experience developing a CIP and securing funding for projects. A Mission-minded City reflects on the replication potential of this approach and how elements of the Climate City Contract framework can support cities developing their own investment planning. A climate finance expert provides insights into how city investment portfolios can connect to existing financing instruments and what conditions make projects bankable.

The panel leads into a discussion where participants explore barriers to financing urban climate projects and how investment pipelines developed in CIPs can help unlock funding across governance levels.