Cities are both the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions and the most vulnerable to climate impacts, making them key to mitigating and adapting to the climate crisis. Staying below the 1.5°C global warming limit is still possible, but the coming years are crucial. It will require the involvement of a multitude of stakeholders, complex actions and a high level of coordination. International cooperation, such as the partnership between the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the C40 Cities Network, is therefore key to driving effective climate action.
The partnership between the IDB and C40 Cities Network allows them to pool resources and expertise from diverse sectors to develop innovative, robust urban projects and to increase access to finance for Latin American and Caribbean cities. The recent signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the context of the Urban20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro formalizes this commitment and signals the importance of collective action in addressing complex urban challenges. The MoU was signed by IDB President Ilan Goldfajn, C40 Executive Director Mark Watts, and C40 Co-Chair and Mayor of Freetown Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr. The signing took place during the Mayors and Secretaries of Finance Forum to Promote Access to Finance in Cities of Latin America and the Caribbean, in the context of the Urban20 Summit held in Rio de Janeiro.
The IDB and C40 have designed their partnership to address a wide range of interconnected issues, all integral to achieving a climate-resilient urban future. It encompasses initiatives in sustainable urban development and municipal finance, sustainable and clean transport, and the transition to a circular economy in LAC cities’ water, sanitation, and solid waste sectors. Three action plans preliminarily outline eight core initiatives. main lines of cooperation.
Testing Innovative Solutions for Greener Neighborhoods
One of the main initiatives is the partnership Promoting Green and Thriving Neighborhoods through Urban Experimentation, between the IDB Cities LAB and C40’s Green and Thriving Neighborhoods Program. This collaboration focuses on developing innovative pilot projects that act as “urban laboratories” for testing and applying the principles of proximity urbanism. Planning for Proximity (also referred as “the 15-minute city”) emphasizes the idea that jobs and essential services – such as groceries, healthcare, and education – should be within a short walk or bike ride for all residents. These pilot projects aim to demonstrate how urban spaces can be redesigned to be greener, more accessible, and more livable, ultimately driving transformative changes in urban planning and design practices.
The neighborhood scale is especially effective for exploring the potential of innovative ideas. It provides a real-world setting where urban innovations can be tested, while also offering the flexibility to refine and adapt solutions as they are implemented. This experimental, innovation-driven approach is a key area of expertise for the IDB Cities LAB.
The IDB and C40 are currently collaborating on three innovative urban projects across Brazil, each aimed at addressing sustainability and resilience in different ways. These pilot initiatives in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and Belo Horizonte focus on translating large-scale urban plans into tangible, community-driven solutions that promote environmental sustainability, social equity, and climate resilience at the neighborhood level.
- The pilot project in Rio de Janeiro focuses on implementing the city’s “Sustainability Corridors” plan at the local level, starting in the Oswaldo Cruz neighborhood. The project involves a participatory process to assess the neighborhood’s sustainability needs and define a path forward. Its goal is to demonstrate how a large-scale, long-term sustainability plan can be translated into tangible, impactful interventions through tactical urbanism and placemaking. The IDB and C40 are supporting the city in creating a replicable methodology from this pilot and developing a catalog of solutions that can be applied across other areas as part of the broader Sustainability Corridors initiative.
- The pilot project in São Paulo focuses on developing a “Connected Neighborhood” in Sapopemba, aimed at enhancing other centralities in the territory. By engaging the local community to identify key needs, the project promotes active mobility and healthy living through the transformation of public spaces and improved pedestrian accessibility. With support from the IDB and C40, the project works to enhance active mobility, safety, and climate resilience in public spaces, specifically focusing on innovative and replicable solutions for improving stairways and alleys in neighborhood streets. Due to the added complexity they bring to the planning process, public stairways and other infrastructure designed to assist pedestrians to navigate the irregular topography are often overlooked or left out in urban planning. Working on these connecting elements can have a transformative impact on many Latin American and Caribbean cities.
- The pilot project in Belo Horizonte is part of the “Programa de Qualificação das Centralidades,” which aims to develop economic and social centralities across the city. The initiative focuses on urban requalification and socio-economic development to improve residents’ access to services and opportunities closer to their homes, reducing trips to the city center. With support from the IDB and C40, the project adds a layer of climate resilience in public space interventions, specifically through the development of a replicable methodology, a catalog of solutions, and prototyping climate shelters in one neighborhood. The goal is to develop innovative, context-specific designs and prototypes that can be scaled up within the broader centralities program.
Looking ahead, for the upcoming three years, new pilot interventions will be developed, drawing on the insights and lessons learned from previous projects to drive further innovation and impact in urban development.
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