As climate financial efforts develop in ambitions and scope, there is an increasing awareness of the key role that cities and sub-government must play in achieving national climate goals. The Urban Climate Finance Leadership Alliance (CCFLA) and the SDSN Global Urban Sustainable Development Goals Finance Committee convened a meeting during the 2025 World Bank/IMF Spring Meeting in Washington, D.C. to explore how rural platforms, as a core tool for expanding climate financing, can effectively integrate urban priorities. The event also marks a joint paper issued by the CCFLA and SDSN Global Commission, developed under the advice of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), which provides a framework for a national platform for cities that contain cities.
The role of national platforms in expanding climate financing
The National Platform aims to mobilize climate financing by coordinating national development strategies, international investment and donor participation in a unified national leadership approach. However, many existing platforms currently include subnational governments in addressing the urban dimensions of climate transition and/or in the process of designing the platform. Cities are responsible for over 70% of global emissions and require trillions of dollars in investment to meet their climate goals – so, large-scale exploitation of urban climate investments is needed to achieve change.
With discussions on reforming the Multilateral Development Bank (MDB) and promoting national platform design progress, a key question is raised: How can these mechanisms be adapted to better reflect urban reality, empower subnational players and catalyze urban-led climate action?
Towards a national platform containing cities
The new paper, initiated during the spring meeting, provides a clear vision for integrating subnational governments and city agendas into national platforms. It proposes a practical framework to help policy makers identify entry points for stronger urban engagement from policy design to implementation. The framework provides an sequential action pathway for existing and emerging national platforms from initial secondary participation to implementation. It describes the stages, operational characteristics and metrics of successful urban integration.
The discussions at the conference helped to relate this framework to real-world experiences, resulting in practical insights to apply the approach in a variety of national contexts.
Key topics in discussion
- The nature of the continuous development of national platforms
The initial idea was to support financial stability and coordinated resource mobilization, and the national platform was developing. They aim to be state-owned, politically anchored, and aligned with national development goals. Although interest in establishing such platforms is growing, only a few countries are actively implementing it. Next-generation platforms may vary greatly in structure and focus, and require a tailored approach. - Strengthen governance and financial coordination
An effective national platform depends on strong governance at all levels. This means keeping national, regional and local policies consistent and establishing fiscal coherence. Early in this process, the Ministry of Finance can ensure that climate financing strategies are embedded in the national budget system and aligned with long-term public investment plans. - Meeting the Challenge of Urban Integration
Urban integration faces ongoing challenges, including decentralized local priorities, limited fiscal decentralization and municipal capacity limitations. Many cities, especially smaller cities, lack the ability to manage financial risks or independently access projects to prepare for support and climate financing. Without a mechanism to resolve these gaps, cities may remain the same. - Expand sub-participation
Subnational participation on national platforms can take many forms: from basic consultation to platforms with clear urban authorization, or sectoral platforms with urban relevance, such as adaptation or transportation. The paper outlines how these models can be adapted to the political, financial and urbanization areas of each country. In addition, partnerships with Public Development Bank could help release financing of subnational projects. - Strengthen integration through policies and practice
Deeper policy consistency is needed to understand the role of cities in achieving national climate goals. The state platform can also address fiscal decentralization positively – clarifying roles, responsibilities and financial autonomy. In addition to coordination, the platform can also be used as a tool to build capabilities, promote collaboration and ensure urban areas are key engines for mitigation and resilience.
go ahead
Looking ahead, this article encourages further exploration of how national platforms develop dynamically with changing urban areas. This includes avoiding unsustainable development models such as suburban sprawl, enabling larger cities to take advantage of international capital markets, and giving smaller municipalities meaningful participation. The proposed framework provides flexibility to enable countries to determine their own speed and depth of urban integration – from consultation to full shared ownership.
A national platform containing cities has great potential to align local innovation with national ambitions. By integrating subpriorities into national-led strategies, these platforms can become more effective, equitable, and able to move the climate financing needed to meet the challenge scale. As global efforts to reform climate financial buildings continue, attention to cities and multi-level governance is crucial to driving transformative change.
