Mayors from Latin America and the Caribbean Launch Network to Help Cities in the Region Access Financing

The initiative, backed by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and C40, was announced during the Mayors and Secretaries of Finance Forum to Promote Access to Finance in Cities of Latin America and the Caribbean

Mayors and finance secretaries from Latin America and the Caribbean announced today the launch a Network of Cities to facilitate cities' access to finance and boost available funding for resilience. The initiative was announced during the Mayors and Secretaries of Finance Forum to Promote Access to Finance in Cities of Latin America and the Caribbean. The meeting was organized in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, by the IDB Cities Network in partnership with the global network of cities C40 and the Municipal Government of Rio.

One of the Network of Cities' primary aims is to help local governments gain access to finance through a regional roadmap that fosters strategic dialogue to share knowledge, set priorities and build capacities. The Network will have the backing of the IDB and C40, which signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to work jointly toward boosting climate resilience in cities in the region.

"Managing extreme weather events is an increasingly important component of a mayor's responsibilities. They have no choice but to prepare resilience strategies so that the next storm, flood or heat wave will be less harmful than the last. And these plans need funding. That's why the IDB's Cities program has made it a priority to help municipal governments increase their access to financing and strengthen their technical know-how to invest in resilience," said IDB President Ilan Goldfajn.

The mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Paes, ambassador of the initiative, said: "Our finance departments play a key role in our cities, and it is essential to build them up so they can lead this transformation. We know that our municipalities face major hurdles to accessing these funds, but I am convinced that these challenges are not insurmountable and that the key lies in collaboration. Now is the time to learn from each other, support each other and take action together."

The Network's backers stressed that the next step is to transform this commitment into concrete actions for cities. Finance secretaries play a pivotal role in this because they are in charge of mobilizing and managing resources.

The meeting took place as part of Urban 20 (U20), which brought together mayors and finance secretaries from nearly 20 major cities in the region, as well as senior management from the IDB and C40. The Urban 20 initiative offers a channel for cities to participate in the Group of Twenty (G20) and showcase their international leadership on economic and political issues.

The IDB will contribute its technical and financial resources to the Network, as well as its experience from similar initiatives, like the IDB Cities Network and the Regional Climate Change Platform of Economy and Finance Ministries of Latin America and the Caribbean. It can draw on this background to build capacities and foster knowledge exchanges to create a regional roadmap for how to fund cities' climate projects.

During the meeting, participants emphasized the progress their cities have made on these issues, but also their common challenges and barriers for accessing funding. These difficulties include limited financial and technical capacities and low municipal credit ratings.

The mayors who attended the meeting agreed that municipalities need access to financing to achieve their sustainable development priorities, which are tied to reducing poverty, growing their economies, and boosting resilience to climate impacts.