may, 2025
Event Details
Background
As cities worldwide grapple with rising temperatures, the need for sustainable, inclusive, and low-carbon cooling solutions is urgent. Nature-based Solutions (NbS) protect, restore, and sustainably manage ecosystems, offering a powerful yet underutilized avenue to tackle extreme heat without relying on mechanical cooling.
From urban forests and green corridors to wetlands and blue infrastructure, NbS help lower surface and ambient temperatures, improve thermal comfort, and curb energy consumption. They also yield co-benefits, such as better public health, carbon sequestration, enhanced biodiversity, and greater community cohesion.
Despite their promise, urban NbS investments remain limited. Many cities struggle to secure finance, develop robust business models, and navigate risk-return considerations that could attract private capital. According to UNEP’s State of Finance for Nature 2023, only 17% of total NbS investments come from private sources, contributing to an estimated 700 USD billion annual financing gap.
This webinar, convened by the UNEP Cool Coalition, explored strategies to overcome these barriers. Experts discussed how cities can mobilize and scale up financing for NbS that cool, thereby closing the gap between ambitious climate goals and real-world transformation.
Event Objectives
• Showcase the power of NbS to reduce urban heat, improve well-being, and cut emissions.
• Discuss financing pathways to scale NbS in cities, including public-private models, climate funds, and nature-positive investment frameworks.
• Highlight real-world applications of NbS for cooling from both global and local perspectives.
• Share tools, frameworks, and technical support available to cities and governments for data-driven implementation and policy design.
Agenda
Welcome & Opening Remarks (5 min)
by Dr Zhuolun Chen, Senior Advisor on Energy Efficiency and Green Finance, UNEP Cool Coalition and UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre
Keynote Address: Cooling Cities Naturally: Global Imperatives and Local Innovation (5 min)
by Dr Eleni “Lenio” Myrivili, Global Chief Heat Officer, UN-Habitat and Atlantic Council Climate Resilience Center
Panel Discussion: Mobilizing Investments and Policies for Nature-Based Urban Cooling (20 min)
moderated by Dr Geronimo Gussmann, Advisor on Nature-based Solutions, UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre
- Nature-Based Cooling in the Global Climate and Biodiversity Frameworks
by Dr Geronimo Gussmann, Advisor on Nature-based Solutions, UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre - Urban Architecture and Passive Cooling: Scaling Nature for City Resilience
by Richard Hassell, co-Founding Director, WOHA - Aligning National Biodiversity Strategies with City Cooling Goals
by Eva Gurría, Partnerships and External Relations Lead, NBSAP Accelerator Partnership - Designing Climate-Resilient Buildings: Integrating Nature-Based Cooling Solutions
by Dr Zahra Jandaghian, Nature-based Solutions Lead, Construction Research Center, National Research Council Canada
Q&A Session (20 min)
moderated by Dr Geronimo Gussmann, Advisor on Nature-based Solutions, UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre
Closing Remarks (3 min)
by Zhuolun Chen, Senior Advisor on Energy Efficiency and Green Finance, UNEP Cool Coalition