Rethinking the geographies of finance for urban climate action

Abstract

It is widely accepted that reducing carbon emissions and adapting to climate change necessitate the transformation of our economies and infrastructure such as transport, housing, water, waste, sanitation, and energy. This requires significant investments, particularly in cities (Floater et al., 2017). For instance, the Cities Climate Finance Leadership Alliance (2015) estimates that US$4.5-5.4 trillion per annum are needed to decarbonise and enhance the resilience of urban infrastructure. In recent years, geography and urban studies scholars have explored the relationship between finance and urban climate action. Research has shown how climate agendas enable private capital to flow into climate-focused projects (Long & Rice, 2019), for instance through resilience initiatives promoted by international organisations (Bigger & Webber, 2020) and philanthropies (Webber et al., 2020). Studies have focused on the creation of new financial instruments, such as municipal green bonds and carbon credits, to finance climate-resilient and low-carbon infrastructure

Challenging the financial capture of urban greening

“…For example, collective community resistance in Jakarta, Indonesia has reimagined and in some cases reshaped the top-down financialized coastal and flood protection infrastructures and their financial sources, directing some funds to upgrade kampungs (informal settlements) and build protective infrastructures 34 . Along these lines, we echo calls for further research into the financial relations and tools that can support smaller scale infrastructure initiatives, especially those operating through informal economies and community-based forms of coordination, to better understand the financial processes behind more inclusive urban climate action 35 .…”

Fiduciary Activism From Below: Green Gentrification, Pension Finance, and the Possibility of Just Urban Futures

“…Meanwhile, a growing body of critical urban geography seeks to "provincialize" the world of climate finance (Urban Climate Finance Network, n.d.) through detailed, placesensitive, comparative, and relational approaches to understand where and how finance hits the ground and the implications for urban social and environmental justice (e.g. Bigger & Webber, 2021;Hilbrandt & Grubbauer, 2020;Knuth, 2016;Long & Rice, 2019;Ponder, 2021;Robin, 2021;Taylor, 2020;Taylor & Aalbers, 2022;Webber et al, 2022).…”

“…Importantly, scholars researching urban climate finance interventions also emphasize the political importance of "imagin[ing] and creat[ing] alternatives by widening and exploiting cracks in climate finance" (Webber et al, 2022, p. 20). For instance, Robin (2021) argues that a limited focus on large-scale infrastructure and financial instruments obscures the possibilities and achievements of local actors and initiatives "on the ground" (see also Robin & Broto, 2021). Likewise, research across diverse contexts has also highlighted the "emerging," "unstable" (Bracking, 2019), "conflictive," "provisional" (Hilbrandt & Grubbauer, 2020), and "fragile" (Taylor, 2020) nature of finance-led processes to suggest that they may present new "avenues for critique and praxis" (Taylor, 2020(Taylor, , p. 1144.…”

The role of funding in the ‘performative decarbonisation’ of transport in England

“…Evidence suggests that reduced funding and complex financing processes constitute critical bottlenecks for innovation processes (Turnheim & Geels, 2019), particularly where they are led by 'incumbent actors' such as Local Authorities (LAs) (Schwanen, 2015). However, the few available studies on the efficacy of new financial arrangements for decarbonisation at the urban level have a predominant USA focus and prioritise a business perspective on adaptation to low-carbon goals (Robin, 2022). Little attention has been given to local actors' strategies and institutional restructuring in the face of funding scarcity and climate challenge, to the point that these remain largely unknown.…”

“…Despite its focus on two English case study cities, the paper analyses phenomena that are profoundly affecting transport decarbonisation and climate governance in the UK and other advanced liberal democracies, as highlighted elsewhere (Bulkeley & Kern, 2006;Negreiros et al, 2021;Robin, 2022;Sullivan et al, 2013). Although substantially underpowered compared to others, English LAs are certainly not alone in facing a context of mounting popular concern about the climate crisis, austerity politics, economic recession, and resource scarcity.…”