Buildings, cities and cooling systems are central to climate mitigation and adaptation, yet the financing needed to deliver sustainable, affordable and climate-resilient solutions remains insufficient and fragmented. Rising temperatures, increasing cooling demand, ageing housing and building stock and rapid urbanisation are creating substantial investment needs across energy efficiency, sustainable cooling, resilient housing and urban infrastructure. Particular attention is needed for low-income households and vulnerable communities, which often face the highest exposure to extreme heat while having the least access to affordable cooling and resilient housing solutions.
Despite advances in technologies, including passive cooling design, reflective materials, resilient construction methods, energy-efficient appliances and cooling systems, policies and innovative financing models, many promising solutions struggle to progress beyond demonstration projects. Limited access to affordable capital, perceived investment risks, fragmented institutional responsibilities and insufficient project preparation continue to constrain implementation, particularly in developing countries and underserved communities.
In many rapidly urbanising areas, informal settlements and low-income communities face disproportionate climate and heat-related risks. Financing mechanisms frequently fail to reach these populations, highlighting the need for approaches that integrate climate resilience, affordability and social equity.
Mobilising investment at scale requires stronger connections between public policy, project development, financial institutions and private-sector delivery. Approaches such as blended finance, project aggregation, innovative business models and improved investment planning can help overcome these barriers. Emerging work on cooling investment roadmaps also offers opportunities to align national priorities with financing requirements and viable project pipelines.
The discussion will also consider how stronger delivery frameworks can help translate climate commitments into coordinated programmes, investable pipelines and projects capable of producing measurable outcomes. That connects policy and programme design, project development and aggregation, delivery mechanisms, capital mobilisation and impact measurement.
Bringing together city practitioners, financial, development, business and implementation perspectives to examine practical approaches to financing climate-resilient buildings, sustainable cooling and urban solutions. The discussion will include both large-scale infrastructure investments and household- and community-level approaches that improve housing resilience, reduce heat stress and expand access to affordable cooling. The discussion will focus on how to mobilise capital and strengthen delivery mechanisms to accelerate implementation.