Financing Sustainable, Climate Neutral Cities

The Viable Cities‘ Finance project hosted four workshops at the Smart City Business Event: The Road to Smart City Live between 2 and 16 November. Viable Cities’ Finance is a research project that examines how financial actors and cities can best collaborate to fund the achievement of the sustainability-related goals of Swedish cities. The project is led by SEI in partnership with Cleantech Scandinavia and Misum at the Stockholm School of Economics.

Workshop schedule:

1. The City Perspective – November 2, 14:30-16:00 CET

In the first workshop, a panel of European cities discussed how they are financing their sustainability plans, what funding gaps currently exist and what other barriers that limit their impact.

Confirmed speakers:

• Gustaf Landahl, Head of Department of Planning and the Environment, City of Stockholm
• Frans-Anton Vermast, Senior Strategy Advisor Low Carbon and Connected Urban Planning, Amsterdam City
• Serge De Gheldere, Lead at Futureproofed & Klimaazaak
• Bud Braughton, Smart Columbus Project Manager

Moderator:

• Fedra Vanhuyse, Head of Societal Transitions Unit – Senior Research Fellow, SEI

2. The Role of Private Financial Institutions – November 9, 13:00-14:30 CET

In the second workshop, private financial institutions discussed the needs expressed in the first workshop, and dug deeper into the financing gap and brainstorm solutions.

Confirmed speakers:

• Carl-Emil Lindholm, Director, Infranode
• Heimen Visser, Fund Manager, PrimeVest Capital Partners
• Helena Olin, Head of Real Assets, AP2
• Kristoffer Aanerud Nielsen, Advisor, Climate & Sustainable Finance, SEB

Moderator:

• Aaron Maltais, Program Director, Stockholm Sustainable Finance Centre

3. Funding Mechanisms – November 16, 13:00-14:30 CET

The third workshop focused on different types of funding mechanisms – from citizen crowdfunding to green and sustainable bonds, from public private partnerships initiatives to government funding mechanisms and everything in between.

Confirmed speakers:

• Isabella Longo, Project Director (BIT Habitat) at Barcelona City Council
• Dr.-ing. Alanus von Radecki, Sustainable Technologies for Cities & Urban Governance – Fraunhofer Morgenstadt Initiative
• Mayur Mukati, Senior Associate, Sustainable Finance Solutions
• Liza Rose Cirolia, Senior researcher, the African Centre for Cities
• Will Sibia, Founder at URBS

Moderator:

• Astrid Nilsson, Research Associate at Stockholm Environment Institute

4. The Business Case – November 16, 14:30-16:00 CET

By taking the lead in the urban transition to climate neutrality, Europe will strengthen its role as a global driver of sustainable growth, creating new investment opportunities and new and better jobs. This workshop drew from the three previous workshops and sparked a constructive conversation between industry, the cities, civic organisations, government and financial institutions on the possibilities and the barriers.

Confirmed speakers:

• Julio Lumbreras, Mission Board for Climate Neutral and Smart Cities
• Robert Westerdahl, Partner at Material Economics
• Jorn Verbeeck, Head of Research and Innovation at Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy (GCoM)
• Alice Charles, Lead, Cities, Infrastructure & Urban Services, World Economic Forum
• Roland Hunziker, Director, Sustainable Buildings & Cities, World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)
• Liisa Raasakka, Head of the EIB Group Office for Sweden

Moderator:

• Fedra Vanhuyse, Head of Societal Transitions Unit – Senior Research Fellow, SEI

Visit the workshop website here for more information.

These workshops were part of the Smart City Business Event: The Road to Smart City Live – a workshop series with the purpose of providing a platform to governments, city representatives, start-ups, SME’s, corporates, experts and investors in order to initiate long-term partnerships. Organizations and cities from all over the world were brought together to establish new alliances and build on existing ones. Innovators and experts shared their solutions and was a great opportunity for investors with a smart city focus to find investment opportunities.

Smart City Business Event: The Road to Smart City Live was a pre-event to Smart City Live – organised by FIRA as an online edition of the Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona.