• The work plan will be issued to the Steering Committee for approval.
• Work plan activities will start to be implemented by the member organizations.
• Progress reporting will take place in regular PPAG member calls and the outcomes shared with the wider Alliance members. If you are interested in joining or getting involved, notify the Secretariat.

• The Secretariat is producing a concept note for the action group's major output(s) based on members' suggestions and comments. A draft has been circulated for members' feedback by 13 March.
• Co-chairs for the group are being selected, ideally from different constituent groups.
• The next meeting will be held around the end of March. If you are interested in joining or getting involved, please notify the Secretariat.

• The Secretariat is better defining the possible activities that could fit within this action group based on member suggestions.
• A policy brief on National Development Banks is being developed and reviewed, as a possible area for activity and input by the action group.
• The next meeting will be held during w/c 16 March. If you are interested in joining or getting involved, please notify the Secretariat.

Eugenie L. Birch, PennIUR

Eugenie is the Lawrence C. Nussdorf Professor of Urban Research, and co-Director of the Penn Institute for Urban Research (PennIUR). 

Tell us about your organization and its goals.

The Penn Institute for Urban Research (PennIUR), a university-wide subsidiary of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA, is dedicated to advancing cross-disciplinary, urban-focused research, instruction, and civic engagement on issues relevant to cities around the world. As the global population becomes increasingly urban, understanding cities is vital to informed decision-making and public policy at the local, national, and international levels.

What activities/initiatives related to cities climate finance are you currently engaged in or planning?

Working with Mauricio Rodas, the immediate past mayor of Quito, Ecuador, we created and delivered a new class, “Introduction to International Development: Financing Cities,” open to advanced undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Pennsylvania. Among the enrollees are students from city planning, architecture, and historic preservation from the Weitzman School of Design and students from the Huntsman Program in International Studies from the Wharton School. The students have produced a draft Climate Resilient Infrastructure Finance Taxonomy, and launched a pilot website with PennIUR Researchers.

Mauricio and I are also leading a research initiative around the City Climate-Resilient Infrastructure Finance involving faculty and researchers in three university centers, PennIUR, Perry World House (international center) and the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy.  This initiative has two parts:

1. Additional detailing of the Climate-Resilient Finance Taxonomy;
2. Initiated the creation of a mayors’ guidance effort to provide advice on preparations to work with project facilitation facilities with a pilot study in Freetown, Sierra Leone, and plans for two others – one in Latin America and a second in Asia – to detail conditions in other regions.

We have publicized this work in various convenings and among different groups. For example, we discussed it at the World Urban Forum 10 in Abu Dhabi in February. We have also shared it with the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Cities and Urbanization in its regular meetings, and will present it at the council’s meeting at MIT in April. We have also shared it with the planning committee for the U-20 convening to take place next October. We are currently planning a convening in Washington, D.C. in conjunction with the Cities Climate Finance Leadership Alliance to discuss the results of the research projects (tentatively on 24 April 2020).

Read the full Member Spotlight piece here