Urban-Act: Integrated Urban Climate Action for Low-Carbon & Resilient Cities

July-September | 2025
Global

Mitigation of Climate Change

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UrbanAct strengthens India’s urban climate leadership across Asia through city partnerships, capacity-building, and climate-smart financing trainings.

Project Updates

Indian Delegation at ASEAN Governor’s and Mayor’

GIZ project Urban Act - Integrated Urban Climate Action for Low Carbon and Resilient Cities along with its implementing partner TERI, organised a one-day workshop on 24 August 2023, for its project stakeholders. The workshop was attended by officials from the City Municipal Corporation, Smart City Limited, the Town Planning Department, the Public-works department, Think Tanks, NGOs, the Resident Welfare Association (RWA), and educational institutions. Important topics for the city of Coimbatore, like climate change, stormwater management, urban green spaces, green building, and urban planning were discussed during the workshop. The participants worked together in group work sessions to identify the key issues and steps that can address the same. The deliberations will be input into the project’s interventions planned for the city of Coimbatore.

UrbanAct had a dynamic and engaging third quarter. Along with its partners, the project actively participated in the ASEAN Mayor’s Forum 2025 held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Delegates from the three UrbanAct project cities — Shimla, Panaji, and Coimbatore — took part in various sessions highlighting innovative urban practices and collaborative approaches to sustainable city development.

The Indian delegation also included officials and mayors from Indore, Lucknow, and Surat, invited as knowledge cities to share their best practices and mentor learning cities from Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia.

As part of UrbanAct, UCLG organised a three-day learning session during the event, which featured city-pairing discussions between knowledge and learning cities, along with field visits on solid waste management. The engagement fostered meaningful peer-to-peer exchanges and strengthened regional cooperation.

The event was a notable success, with India showcasing its achievements under the Swachh Bharat Mission. Notably, Shimla, one of the UrbanAct partner cities, initiated cooperation with other regional cities to explore opportunities for future collaboration and investment proposals such as through the GAP Fund, and to develop sustainable waste management solutions suited for rapidly growing mountain cities.

Training on Bankable Projects and Climate Budget Tool

Between September and October 2025, UrbanAct organised a series of training programmes on developing bankable projects and using the Climate Budget Tool (CBT) for its partner cities — Panaji, Coimbatore, and Shimla.

The sessions aimed to strengthen the capacity of city officials to conceptualise and design bankable, climate-resilient urban projects that can attract domestic and international financing. Participants were also introduced to the Climate Budget Tool, a practical framework that helps urban local bodies integrate climate considerations into municipal budgeting and planning processes.

A total of 89 officials from the three cities were trained. The training was conducted along with in partnership with Tamil Nadu Institute Of Urban Studies (TNIUS will ensure sustainability of the training program thus benefitting officials beyond Urban Act project.

These capacity-building efforts are part of UrbanAct’s ongoing support to its partner cities in developing financially viable and climate-smart urban solutions, aligned with India’s national climate and urban missions.