Financing climate action. Opportunities and challenges for local and regional authorities – Study

Climate change will significantly impact cities and regions requiring local and regional authorities to take action and invest in mitigation and adaptation measures. Nevertheless, local and regional authorities face various obstacles in accessing and using public and private climate finance.

In this context, the current report aims to inform the European Committee of the Regions in the preparation of its opinion on ‘Climate finance: an essential tool for the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement’ and answer the following research questions:

- What are the main international and national funding opportunities for climate change mitigation and adaptation measures available to EU local and regional authorities?

- What are the main obstacles faced by local and regional authorities in accessing and using such funding opportunities?

- How can the identified obstacles be overcome?

The structure of the report follows these three research questions. Namely, Part 1 presents an overview of EU and international climate finance available to EU local and regional authorities, as well as national financing opportunities in four selected EU Member States. Part 2 analyses the obstacles that local and regional authorities can face in accessing climate finance, while Part 3 presents a series of recommendations on how to overcome the obstacles identified.

Specific recommendations are developed for local and regional authorities, EU and national policy makers, and financial actors. The report is based on desk review of relevant finance options, literature review and interviews with stakeholders.

ESO: Find further information in ESO on Climate change finance http://www.europeansources.info/advSearchLink?keyword=climate%20change%20finance%20&searchOption=all

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