Urban development processes must be risk-informed to anticipate, prevent, mitigate and respond to multiple crises and shocks.  This means building on synergies between urban stakeholders and improving how we direct public and private investment capital.  In most cases, sectors like water and sanitation, wastewater and solid waste management are publicly financed, since the private sector is averse to the inherent risk of funding, what is viewed as, public utilities.

The session will delve on the opportunities for public-private partnerships and especially contributions from private investment at the city/micro-level. The session will start with an introduction to the NDC Finance Community of Practice of the ALP, followed by technical presentations on innovative financial mechanisms such as municipal bonds, social impact investments and blended finance mechanisms, that have been used in the Asia Pacific region and have the potential for scale-up. This will be followed by an open discussion that will delve more on the barriers and opportunities for the involvement of private investment in the SDG sectors, and the checks and balances that need to be kept in mind.

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• How large is the disparity between available financing and the investment required to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals in Cities?
• What are the main constraints for channeling investment into SDG sectors, and how can they be overcome?
• What is the balance that must be maintained in an investment portfolio to ensure risk mitigation?  
• Where are the opportunities for climate resilient investment?