As local weather finance efforts develop in ambition and scope, there’s rising recognition of the important function that cities and subnational governments should play in reaching nationwide local weather objectives. The Cities Local weather Finance Management Alliance (CCFLA) and SDSN International Fee for City SDG Finance convened a session throughout the 2025 World Financial institution/IMF Spring Conferences in Washington DC to discover how nation platforms – rising as central instruments for scaling local weather finance – can extra successfully combine city priorities. The occasion additionally marked the launch of a joint paper by CCFLA and the SDSN International Fee, developed with enter from the Asian Infrastructure Funding Financial institution (AIIB), which presents a framework for urban-inclusive nation platforms.
THE ROLE OF COUNTRY PLATFORMS IN SCALING CLIMATE FINANCE
Nation platforms are designed to mobilize local weather finance at scale by coordinating nationwide growth methods, worldwide funding, and donor engagement beneath a unified, country-led strategy. Nonetheless, most of the present platforms at the moment fall quick in addressing the city dimension of the local weather transition and/or embody subnational governments within the means of designing the platforms. Cities are liable for over 70% of worldwide emissions and require trillions in funding to fulfill their local weather targets – subsequently city local weather investments must be leveraged at scale to attain transformative change.
As discussions on reforming Multilateral Growth Banks (MDBs) and advancing nation platform design progress, a vital query arises: how can these mechanisms be tailored to higher replicate city realities, empower subnational actors, and catalyze city-led local weather motion?
TOWARD URBAN-INCLUSIVE COUNTRY PLATFORMS
The brand new paper launched throughout the Spring Conferences provides a transparent imaginative and prescient for integrating subnational governments and concrete agendas into nation platforms. It proposes a sensible framework to assist policymakers establish entry factors for extra strong city engagement, from coverage design to implementation. The framework gives present and rising nation platforms with a sequential motion pathway from preliminary subnational engagement to implementation. It describes the stage, working characteristic and indicators of profitable city integration.
The session’s dialogue helped contextualize this framework inside real-world experiences, producing sensible insights for making use of the strategy throughout numerous nation contexts.
KEY THEMES FROM THE DISCUSSION
- Evolving Nature of Nation Platforms
Initially conceived to assist monetary stability and harmonized useful resource mobilization, nation platforms are evolving. They’re meant to be country-owned, politically anchored, and aligned with nationwide growth objectives. Whereas curiosity in establishing such platforms is rising, just a few international locations have moved into lively implementation. The following technology of platforms could differ considerably in construction and focus, requiring tailor-made approaches. - Strengthening Governance and Fiscal Coordination
Efficient nation platforms depend upon sturdy governance throughout all ranges. This implies aligning nationwide, regional, and native insurance policies and establishing fiscal coherence. Involving Treasury ministries early within the course of can be certain that local weather finance methods are embedded inside nationwide budgeting techniques and aligned with long-term public funding plans. - Tackling Challenges to City Integration
City integration faces persistent challenges, together with fragmented native priorities, restricted fiscal decentralization, and constrained municipal capability. Many cities, particularly smaller ones, lack the power to handle monetary danger or independently entry undertaking preparation assist and local weather finance. With out mechanisms to handle these gaps, cities could stay sidelined. - Increasing Subnational Engagement
Subnational participation in nation platforms can take a number of kinds: from fundamental session to platforms with express city mandates, or sectoral platforms with city relevance, resembling adaptation or transport. The paper outlines how these fashions will be tailored to every nation’s political, fiscal, and urbanization panorama. Moreover, partnerships with Public Growth Banks will help unlock finance for subnational initiatives. - Strengthening Integration by way of Coverage and Observe
Deeper coverage alignment is required to acknowledge the function of cities in delivering nationwide local weather aims. Nation platforms might additionally deal with fiscal decentralization head-on – clarifying roles, duties, and monetary autonomy on the subnational stage. Past coordination, platforms can function instruments for constructing capability, fostering collaboration, and making certain that city areas are key engines of mitigation and resilience
MOVING FORWARD
Trying forward, the paper encourages additional exploration of how nation platforms can evolve in step with altering city dynamics. This contains avoiding unsustainable growth fashions like suburban sprawl, enabling bigger cities to faucet worldwide capital markets, and empowering smaller municipalities to have interaction meaningfully. The proposed framework provides flexibility, permitting international locations to find out their very own tempo and depth of city integration – from session to full co-ownership.
City-inclusive nation platforms maintain immense potential for aligning native innovation with nationwide ambition. By embedding subnational priorities into country-led methods, these platforms can grow to be simpler, equitable, and able to mobilizing the local weather finance wanted to fulfill the size of the problem. As world efforts to reform local weather finance structure proceed, a sharper deal with cities and multi-level governance can be important to driving transformative change.
As local weather finance efforts develop in ambition and scope, there’s rising recognition of the important function that cities and subnational governments should play in reaching nationwide local weather objectives. The Cities Local weather Finance Management Alliance (CCFLA) and SDSN International Fee for City SDG Finance convened a session throughout the 2025 World Financial institution/IMF Spring Conferences in Washington DC to discover how nation platforms – rising as central instruments for scaling local weather finance – can extra successfully combine city priorities. The occasion additionally marked the launch of a joint paper by CCFLA and the SDSN International Fee, developed with enter from the Asian Infrastructure Funding Financial institution (AIIB), which presents a framework for urban-inclusive nation platforms.
THE ROLE OF COUNTRY PLATFORMS IN SCALING CLIMATE FINANCE
Nation platforms are designed to mobilize local weather finance at scale by coordinating nationwide growth methods, worldwide funding, and donor engagement beneath a unified, country-led strategy. Nonetheless, most of the present platforms at the moment fall quick in addressing the city dimension of the local weather transition and/or embody subnational governments within the means of designing the platforms. Cities are liable for over 70% of worldwide emissions and require trillions in funding to fulfill their local weather targets – subsequently city local weather investments must be leveraged at scale to attain transformative change.
As discussions on reforming Multilateral Growth Banks (MDBs) and advancing nation platform design progress, a vital query arises: how can these mechanisms be tailored to higher replicate city realities, empower subnational actors, and catalyze city-led local weather motion?
TOWARD URBAN-INCLUSIVE COUNTRY PLATFORMS
The brand new paper launched throughout the Spring Conferences provides a transparent imaginative and prescient for integrating subnational governments and concrete agendas into nation platforms. It proposes a sensible framework to assist policymakers establish entry factors for extra strong city engagement, from coverage design to implementation. The framework gives present and rising nation platforms with a sequential motion pathway from preliminary subnational engagement to implementation. It describes the stage, working characteristic and indicators of profitable city integration.
The session’s dialogue helped contextualize this framework inside real-world experiences, producing sensible insights for making use of the strategy throughout numerous nation contexts.
KEY THEMES FROM THE DISCUSSION
- Evolving Nature of Nation Platforms
Initially conceived to assist monetary stability and harmonized useful resource mobilization, nation platforms are evolving. They’re meant to be country-owned, politically anchored, and aligned with nationwide growth objectives. Whereas curiosity in establishing such platforms is rising, just a few international locations have moved into lively implementation. The following technology of platforms could differ considerably in construction and focus, requiring tailor-made approaches. - Strengthening Governance and Fiscal Coordination
Efficient nation platforms depend upon sturdy governance throughout all ranges. This implies aligning nationwide, regional, and native insurance policies and establishing fiscal coherence. Involving Treasury ministries early within the course of can be certain that local weather finance methods are embedded inside nationwide budgeting techniques and aligned with long-term public funding plans. - Tackling Challenges to City Integration
City integration faces persistent challenges, together with fragmented native priorities, restricted fiscal decentralization, and constrained municipal capability. Many cities, particularly smaller ones, lack the power to handle monetary danger or independently entry undertaking preparation assist and local weather finance. With out mechanisms to handle these gaps, cities could stay sidelined. - Increasing Subnational Engagement
Subnational participation in nation platforms can take a number of kinds: from fundamental session to platforms with express city mandates, or sectoral platforms with city relevance, resembling adaptation or transport. The paper outlines how these fashions will be tailored to every nation’s political, fiscal, and urbanization panorama. Moreover, partnerships with Public Growth Banks will help unlock finance for subnational initiatives. - Strengthening Integration by way of Coverage and Observe
Deeper coverage alignment is required to acknowledge the function of cities in delivering nationwide local weather aims. Nation platforms might additionally deal with fiscal decentralization head-on – clarifying roles, duties, and monetary autonomy on the subnational stage. Past coordination, platforms can function instruments for constructing capability, fostering collaboration, and making certain that city areas are key engines of mitigation and resilience
MOVING FORWARD
Trying forward, the paper encourages additional exploration of how nation platforms can evolve in step with altering city dynamics. This contains avoiding unsustainable growth fashions like suburban sprawl, enabling bigger cities to faucet worldwide capital markets, and empowering smaller municipalities to have interaction meaningfully. The proposed framework provides flexibility, permitting international locations to find out their very own tempo and depth of city integration – from session to full co-ownership.
City-inclusive nation platforms maintain immense potential for aligning native innovation with nationwide ambition. By embedding subnational priorities into country-led methods, these platforms can grow to be simpler, equitable, and able to mobilizing the local weather finance wanted to fulfill the size of the problem. As world efforts to reform local weather finance structure proceed, a sharper deal with cities and multi-level governance can be important to driving transformative change.
As local weather finance efforts develop in ambition and scope, there’s rising recognition of the important function that cities and subnational governments should play in reaching nationwide local weather objectives. The Cities Local weather Finance Management Alliance (CCFLA) and SDSN International Fee for City SDG Finance convened a session throughout the 2025 World Financial institution/IMF Spring Conferences in Washington DC to discover how nation platforms – rising as central instruments for scaling local weather finance – can extra successfully combine city priorities. The occasion additionally marked the launch of a joint paper by CCFLA and the SDSN International Fee, developed with enter from the Asian Infrastructure Funding Financial institution (AIIB), which presents a framework for urban-inclusive nation platforms.
THE ROLE OF COUNTRY PLATFORMS IN SCALING CLIMATE FINANCE
Nation platforms are designed to mobilize local weather finance at scale by coordinating nationwide growth methods, worldwide funding, and donor engagement beneath a unified, country-led strategy. Nonetheless, most of the present platforms at the moment fall quick in addressing the city dimension of the local weather transition and/or embody subnational governments within the means of designing the platforms. Cities are liable for over 70% of worldwide emissions and require trillions in funding to fulfill their local weather targets – subsequently city local weather investments must be leveraged at scale to attain transformative change.
As discussions on reforming Multilateral Growth Banks (MDBs) and advancing nation platform design progress, a vital query arises: how can these mechanisms be tailored to higher replicate city realities, empower subnational actors, and catalyze city-led local weather motion?
TOWARD URBAN-INCLUSIVE COUNTRY PLATFORMS
The brand new paper launched throughout the Spring Conferences provides a transparent imaginative and prescient for integrating subnational governments and concrete agendas into nation platforms. It proposes a sensible framework to assist policymakers establish entry factors for extra strong city engagement, from coverage design to implementation. The framework gives present and rising nation platforms with a sequential motion pathway from preliminary subnational engagement to implementation. It describes the stage, working characteristic and indicators of profitable city integration.
The session’s dialogue helped contextualize this framework inside real-world experiences, producing sensible insights for making use of the strategy throughout numerous nation contexts.
KEY THEMES FROM THE DISCUSSION
- Evolving Nature of Nation Platforms
Initially conceived to assist monetary stability and harmonized useful resource mobilization, nation platforms are evolving. They’re meant to be country-owned, politically anchored, and aligned with nationwide growth objectives. Whereas curiosity in establishing such platforms is rising, just a few international locations have moved into lively implementation. The following technology of platforms could differ considerably in construction and focus, requiring tailor-made approaches. - Strengthening Governance and Fiscal Coordination
Efficient nation platforms depend upon sturdy governance throughout all ranges. This implies aligning nationwide, regional, and native insurance policies and establishing fiscal coherence. Involving Treasury ministries early within the course of can be certain that local weather finance methods are embedded inside nationwide budgeting techniques and aligned with long-term public funding plans. - Tackling Challenges to City Integration
City integration faces persistent challenges, together with fragmented native priorities, restricted fiscal decentralization, and constrained municipal capability. Many cities, particularly smaller ones, lack the power to handle monetary danger or independently entry undertaking preparation assist and local weather finance. With out mechanisms to handle these gaps, cities could stay sidelined. - Increasing Subnational Engagement
Subnational participation in nation platforms can take a number of kinds: from fundamental session to platforms with express city mandates, or sectoral platforms with city relevance, resembling adaptation or transport. The paper outlines how these fashions will be tailored to every nation’s political, fiscal, and urbanization panorama. Moreover, partnerships with Public Growth Banks will help unlock finance for subnational initiatives. - Strengthening Integration by way of Coverage and Observe
Deeper coverage alignment is required to acknowledge the function of cities in delivering nationwide local weather aims. Nation platforms might additionally deal with fiscal decentralization head-on – clarifying roles, duties, and monetary autonomy on the subnational stage. Past coordination, platforms can function instruments for constructing capability, fostering collaboration, and making certain that city areas are key engines of mitigation and resilience
MOVING FORWARD
Trying forward, the paper encourages additional exploration of how nation platforms can evolve in step with altering city dynamics. This contains avoiding unsustainable growth fashions like suburban sprawl, enabling bigger cities to faucet worldwide capital markets, and empowering smaller municipalities to have interaction meaningfully. The proposed framework provides flexibility, permitting international locations to find out their very own tempo and depth of city integration – from session to full co-ownership.
City-inclusive nation platforms maintain immense potential for aligning native innovation with nationwide ambition. By embedding subnational priorities into country-led methods, these platforms can grow to be simpler, equitable, and able to mobilizing the local weather finance wanted to fulfill the size of the problem. As world efforts to reform local weather finance structure proceed, a sharper deal with cities and multi-level governance can be important to driving transformative change.
As local weather finance efforts develop in ambition and scope, there’s rising recognition of the important function that cities and subnational governments should play in reaching nationwide local weather objectives. The Cities Local weather Finance Management Alliance (CCFLA) and SDSN International Fee for City SDG Finance convened a session throughout the 2025 World Financial institution/IMF Spring Conferences in Washington DC to discover how nation platforms – rising as central instruments for scaling local weather finance – can extra successfully combine city priorities. The occasion additionally marked the launch of a joint paper by CCFLA and the SDSN International Fee, developed with enter from the Asian Infrastructure Funding Financial institution (AIIB), which presents a framework for urban-inclusive nation platforms.
THE ROLE OF COUNTRY PLATFORMS IN SCALING CLIMATE FINANCE
Nation platforms are designed to mobilize local weather finance at scale by coordinating nationwide growth methods, worldwide funding, and donor engagement beneath a unified, country-led strategy. Nonetheless, most of the present platforms at the moment fall quick in addressing the city dimension of the local weather transition and/or embody subnational governments within the means of designing the platforms. Cities are liable for over 70% of worldwide emissions and require trillions in funding to fulfill their local weather targets – subsequently city local weather investments must be leveraged at scale to attain transformative change.
As discussions on reforming Multilateral Growth Banks (MDBs) and advancing nation platform design progress, a vital query arises: how can these mechanisms be tailored to higher replicate city realities, empower subnational actors, and catalyze city-led local weather motion?
TOWARD URBAN-INCLUSIVE COUNTRY PLATFORMS
The brand new paper launched throughout the Spring Conferences provides a transparent imaginative and prescient for integrating subnational governments and concrete agendas into nation platforms. It proposes a sensible framework to assist policymakers establish entry factors for extra strong city engagement, from coverage design to implementation. The framework gives present and rising nation platforms with a sequential motion pathway from preliminary subnational engagement to implementation. It describes the stage, working characteristic and indicators of profitable city integration.
The session’s dialogue helped contextualize this framework inside real-world experiences, producing sensible insights for making use of the strategy throughout numerous nation contexts.
KEY THEMES FROM THE DISCUSSION
- Evolving Nature of Nation Platforms
Initially conceived to assist monetary stability and harmonized useful resource mobilization, nation platforms are evolving. They’re meant to be country-owned, politically anchored, and aligned with nationwide growth objectives. Whereas curiosity in establishing such platforms is rising, just a few international locations have moved into lively implementation. The following technology of platforms could differ considerably in construction and focus, requiring tailor-made approaches. - Strengthening Governance and Fiscal Coordination
Efficient nation platforms depend upon sturdy governance throughout all ranges. This implies aligning nationwide, regional, and native insurance policies and establishing fiscal coherence. Involving Treasury ministries early within the course of can be certain that local weather finance methods are embedded inside nationwide budgeting techniques and aligned with long-term public funding plans. - Tackling Challenges to City Integration
City integration faces persistent challenges, together with fragmented native priorities, restricted fiscal decentralization, and constrained municipal capability. Many cities, particularly smaller ones, lack the power to handle monetary danger or independently entry undertaking preparation assist and local weather finance. With out mechanisms to handle these gaps, cities could stay sidelined. - Increasing Subnational Engagement
Subnational participation in nation platforms can take a number of kinds: from fundamental session to platforms with express city mandates, or sectoral platforms with city relevance, resembling adaptation or transport. The paper outlines how these fashions will be tailored to every nation’s political, fiscal, and urbanization panorama. Moreover, partnerships with Public Growth Banks will help unlock finance for subnational initiatives. - Strengthening Integration by way of Coverage and Observe
Deeper coverage alignment is required to acknowledge the function of cities in delivering nationwide local weather aims. Nation platforms might additionally deal with fiscal decentralization head-on – clarifying roles, duties, and monetary autonomy on the subnational stage. Past coordination, platforms can function instruments for constructing capability, fostering collaboration, and making certain that city areas are key engines of mitigation and resilience
MOVING FORWARD
Trying forward, the paper encourages additional exploration of how nation platforms can evolve in step with altering city dynamics. This contains avoiding unsustainable growth fashions like suburban sprawl, enabling bigger cities to faucet worldwide capital markets, and empowering smaller municipalities to have interaction meaningfully. The proposed framework provides flexibility, permitting international locations to find out their very own tempo and depth of city integration – from session to full co-ownership.
City-inclusive nation platforms maintain immense potential for aligning native innovation with nationwide ambition. By embedding subnational priorities into country-led methods, these platforms can grow to be simpler, equitable, and able to mobilizing the local weather finance wanted to fulfill the size of the problem. As world efforts to reform local weather finance structure proceed, a sharper deal with cities and multi-level governance can be important to driving transformative change.
