611 Cities Report US$86 Billion Climate Project Investment Need in 2024

Six hundred and eleven cities reported 2,508 climate projects seeking US$86 billion in investment through CDP-ICLEI Track in 2024, representing a 23% increase in total reported investment needs from US$70 billion in 2023. The global snapshot, developed with the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, highlights a persistent concentration of project finance needs in developed economies while emerging markets face structural barriers to accessing climate capital.

The CDP-ICLEI Track 2024 snapshot draws on disclosures from 611 cities across 75 countries. Investment needs in water management led all sectors at US$28 billion, followed by buildings and energy efficiency, transport, and nature-based solutions. Nearly half of the 2,508 reported projects remain in early development stages, prior to the structuring phase, with this barrier most acute in Africa and Latin America. Eighty-six percent of projects are seeking funding, with 40% of projects in emerging markets and developing economies requiring full funding compared to 25% in developed economies.

Climate adaptation finance demand has risen sharply, from US$21 billion in 2023 to US$35 billion in 2024, representing 41% of total investment needs and reflecting a growing urgency around urban resilience infrastructure. However, current adaptation finance flows meet only 4% of annual needs in emerging markets and developing economies. The 448 cities from 38 CHAMP-endorser countries reported 1,929 projects representing more than three-quarters of all reported projects and US$67.5 billion in investment needs. Of these, 87% are seeking financing and 46% are at early development stages.

CDP and its partners call for national governments and development finance institutions to collectively mobilise at least US$800 billion annually in public urban climate investment by 2030, covering approximately 20% of total annual urban climate finance needs to crowd in private capital. They also urge accelerated technical assistance for project preparation, promotion of project aggregation to attract institutional investors, and stronger alignment between national NDC investment strategies and city-level project disclosure data. For India, which hosts significant urban climate vulnerability particularly in coastal and monsoon-dependent cities, the CHAMP framework and CDP city disclosure infrastructure represent mechanisms for municipal governments to quantify and communicate their investment needs at scale.

Key figure — US$86 billion in total investment needed by 611 cities in 2024