Results area 1
Resilient cities and human settlements
Photo: Roam
Improving resilience for cities and infrastructure under threat
During the reporting period, steady progress was made towards the set targets and projections. NDF continued financing projects and directing investments towards increasing climate- and disaster-resilience and adaptability of cities and human settlements. This work helps make where people live and work better able to withstand climate change and natural disasters.
Under this results area, NDF contributed to delivering over 10,000 climate solutions, ranging from climate-resilient infrastructure to weather stations and early warning systems, benefitting more than 200 million women and men. The size of area that was covered by climate solutions was more than 11,000 hectares.
Here we take a closer look at how NDF’s support helped to build more climate resilient and sustainable cities in Africa, Cambodian farmers to improve mobility in rural areas, and people in Latin America to create electric bus networks and where additional climate finance has successfully leveraged more than USD 14 billion through green and social bonds.
Contribution to the SDGs:
Urban and Municipal Development Fund (UMDF)
Sustainable and climate-resilient urban development in Africa
Urbanisation is one of the most profound transformations occurring in Africa today. While the growth in urban population provides economic opportunities, unplanned growth intensifies the risk of climate related disasters. Infrastructure and service delivery gaps, vulnerable and risky informal settlement growth and activities dominate the urban space.
NDF is the main financier to the Urban and Municipal Development Fund (UMDF) that supports African cities to improve urban planning, governance and the quality of basic services. Hosted by the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Fund provided technical assistance to eleven cities to undertake rapid assessments and develop action plans with the goal of investing in infrastructure for more sustainable and climate resilient urban development.
“For example, you could be stuck in traffic for hours every day,” explains Marcus Mayr, coordinator of UMDF. “We can help the city to assess the situation, work with the transport department to develop plans and then develop feasibility studies and design infrastructure. This could include sidewalks, bike lanes, regional trains and bus systems.”
Other work done by the UMDF include preparation of new investments in transport, water, housing, waste and flood management. Strong infrastructure is important to attract private investments. A key goal of the Fund is fair and sustainable development, so it also addressed issues such as gender equality and poverty reduction.
The progress made in the first phase of the project provided the basis for a second phase in 2023-2027 with new funders and a ten-fold increase in the budget.
NDF CO-FINANCING
EUR 4 million
PROJECT PERIOD
2019-2022
PARTNER AGENCY
African Development Bank
OTHER PARTNERS
Switzerland State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and Wallonia Export & Investment Agency (AWEX), Belgium
MAIN RESULTS
- Leveraged USD 82.5 million of additional bank and partner co-financing.
- Provided 2 million people (50% women) with improved access to climate resilient and low-carbon urban transport infrastructure.
- Produced 6 evidence-based, inclusive, climate and gender-responsive City Action Plans/Master Plans.
Rural Roads Improvement Project
New climate-resilient roads in Cambodia
Much of central Cambodia is lowlands, dominated by the Mekong River. Many of the people who live there rely on inadequately developed rural infrastructure and suffer poor mobility during the increasingly volatile rainy and dry seasons. Building modern, paved roads has had a huge impact on people’s lives.
NDF participated in paving more than 1,200 km of rural roads in nine Cambodian provinces in the Rural Roads Improvement Project headed by the Asian Development Bank. NDF jointly financed the vegetation cover around the roads, which increases water infiltration and minimises erosion and flooding. And trees are beautiful as well as useful carbon sinks.
A crucial goal of the project was to improve gender equality and to provide opportunities to women. About 560,000 people benefit from the improved roads, and 52% of them are women. They now have reliable, year-round road access from farms and small towns to markets, employment centres and social services.
“When I was pregnant, the road was not there; I had to go to the hospital a week before giving birth,” explained farmer Heng Sola. “Today there is no need for that, you can get to the hospital quickly.”
Also, NDF solely financed the climate change adaptation framework, making sure the rural population enjoys mobility and access to services during extreme events such as flooding. The framework ensures access to safe drinking water and more sustainable rural life. This included solar powered irrigation, biogas energy and an improved stove design which smokes less and uses less wood.
“Now I can grow two crops a year. This irrigation system helps save on fuel costs; much of this type of cultivation would otherwise be impossible,” said farmer Heng Touch.
“Biogas has been a great help to us,” reported student Meng Dany. “We no longer have to collect firewood from the woods. The use of gas is convenient and easy in our kitchens.”
People living by the Mekong River in Cambodia now have reliable, year-round road access from farms and small towns to markets, employment centres and social services. Video: Joonas Lehtipuu
The climate change adaptation framework ensures access to safe drinking water and more sustainable rural life.
NDF CO-FINANCING
EUR 4 million
PROJECT PERIOD
2014-2022
PARTNER AGENCY
Asian Development Bank
OTHER PARTNERS
Agence Française de Développement; and the Governments of Australia, Cambodia and Korea
MAIN RESULTS
- Constructed 1,286 km of roads and 11 jetties for Mekong River islands.
- Planted 87,358 trees and rehabilitated 15 natural irrigation ponds. 62% of workers were community women.
- Established climate change adaptation framework (agriculture, renewable energy, water supplies).
NDC Pipeline Accelerator
Electric public transportation in Latin America and the Caribbean
Most countries in the Caribbean and Latin America are particularly vulnerable to climate change and extreme weather events. Together with national development plans they have formulated nationally determined contributions (NDCs) for climate change adaptation and mitigation. To translate these priorities into action there is a need for additional finance. NDF supported the establishment of the NDC Pipeline Accelerator fund which jumpstarts public and private investments.
“The NDC Pipeline Accelerator gets the ball rolling on complex investments,” says Gloria Visconti of the Inter-American Development Bank. “This includes feasibility studies, consultations, in-depth analysis, capacity building – all the preparation a big project needs.”
The fund supports investments in infrastructure, agriculture and land-use management, and has successfully leveraged more than USD 14 billion in public and private investments. It has supported 51 projects to help countries deliver on their climate commitments under the Paris Agreement.
One of the projects supported by the NDC Pipeline Accelerator replaced diesel buses with electric buses, helping eleven countries reduce greenhouse gas emissions, operating costs and pollution while improving service reliability and ride quality. New jobs in cleantech were created, including for women.
“This project takes gender into consideration,” Visconti says. “For example, they can have a quota for how many female bus drivers are hired, or how many women are trained as electric vehicle mechanics.”
Additionally, the electric buses project considered the transport needs of female head of households and caregivers in route planning and timetables. It contributed to decreased sexual harassment of women at stations and on buses.
“There are other benefits that you might not see immediately,” says Visconti. “For example, electric buses don’t release pollutants and particulates like old diesel buses do. This will have a positive impact on the health of people living in urban areas. It will even help reduce healthcare costs.”
NDC Pipeline Accelerator helps countries deliver on their climate commitments. With this project, diesel buses were replaced with electric buses to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, operating costs and pollution in Latin America and the Caribbean. Photo: Inter-American Development Bank
The fund supports investments in infrastructure, agriculture and land-use management, and has successfully leveraged more than USD 14 billion in public and private investments.
NDF CO-FINANCING
EUR 10 million
PROJECT PERIOD
2017-2022
PARTNER AGENCY
Inter-American Development Bank
OTHER PARTNERS
Austrian Federal Ministry of Finance, the Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs
MAIN RESULTS
- Green bonds and social bonds helped unlock markets for USD 14.4 billion.
- Mobilisation of IDB investment operations and outside financing for USD 3.1 billion.
- Replaced 650 diesel buses with electric buses.