The policy brief (PB) proposes the need for development of new approaches to adapt to climate change that highlight the importance of involving multilevel governance. The largest amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are produced in cities. Yet they are also at risk of facing the financial and human consequences of climate change, both in terms of lives lost and in material damages. However, national policies have great difficulty coordinating their efforts with subnational governments in a systematic manner. Three types of innovative approaches to be considered, adopted and promoted by national governments and implemented locally are proposed in the PB: the use of urban metabolism as a conceptual framework, the development of metropolitan governance bodies capable of carrying out plans for adapting to climate change, and new, long-term investment mechanisms in low carbon infrastructure.

Task Force: Climate Action & Infrastructure for Development

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Contributing Authors: Florencia Yáñez (CIPPEC); Britta Horstmann (DIE); Eva Dick (DIE); Clara Brandi (DIE); Steffen Bauer (DIE); Alfredo Redondo (C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group); Nicolas J.A. Buchoud (Cercle Grand Paris de l’Investissement Durable); Oscar Huerta Melchor (OECD); Jacopo Bencini (DIE); Asha Aravindakshan (MIT); Kanako Tanaka (Center for Low Carbon Society Strategy, Japan Science and Technology Agency); Koichi Yamada (Center for Low Carbon Society Strategy, Japan Science and Technology Agency); Jyoti Parikh (IRADe); Emma Castaños (MIT);