Giving Compass' Take:

• Devex reports on the Financing Sustainable Cities Forum and the cost-efficient, environmentally-friendly solutions derived from it, including electric buses and a better stormwater system in New Orleans.

• This article notes that 7,500 cities worldwide have committed to reduce emissions and improve climate change resilience, so it's worth asking: How many of the ideas from this forum will be put into action? Clean energy investors should pay close attention.

• We should also think about equity when we discuss sustainable cities. Here's why.

More innovative sources of financing are needed as cities look to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change threats, city officials and business leaders said during the third annual Financing Sustainable Cities Forum on Tuesday.

While public climate financing is on the rise, the estimated needs are expected to continue to increase before 2050. By then, developing countries could require between $140 to $300 billion a year to adapt to climate change.

The stakes are particularly high for cities, 90 percent of which occupy coastal areas and 70 percent of which are already experiencing the impacts of climate change. Using existing city resources could be key for these cities, panelists shared at the New York forum, co-hosted by the C40 cities leadership group, WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities, and the Citi Foundation.

Citi announced a new $5 million grant that will support the Financing Sustainable Cities Initiative, a joint venture between C40 and WRI that it has funded since 2016.

Plans are underway in New York to zoom in on the city’s largest source of greenhouse gas emissions: the city’s 1 million buildings and the heat and hot water they consume. In September, Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration announced new energy mandates for buildings bigger than 25,000 square feet. Buildings will face financial penalties if they do not update their boilers, install more energy efficient windows, or take other steps to reach fossil fuel targets within the next 11 to 16 years.

Read the full article about the sustainable cities forum by Amy Lieberman at Devex International Development.