Fulfilling the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement on climate change will require strong action at all levels, particularly at local level. National finance and policies will still play an important role as communities also need support through national policy and investments. The problem is that citizens too often lack the finance, authority and voice to act effectively. So only a small proportion of development and climate finance and public and private resources reach local governments.
This publication Money Where it Matters: Financing the Sustainable Development Goals and Paris Agreement through local finance focuses on local finance issues in urban and rural settings, in the context of climate, energy and natural resources. IIED, shared insights on the value of channelling finance to local governments, communities and small businesses, identified the opportunities available for increasing the flow of local finance in new geographies and contexts, and pointed to the ‘next frontiers’ — areas for future work that will enable funds for climate resilient sustainable development to be most effective and be managed efficiently.