November 2018 saw the kick-start of Urban-LEDS II "Accelerating climate action through the promotion of Urban Low Emissions Development Strategies" which aims to support integrated climate action in emerging economies and least developed countries.

The project implements the new framework of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy, also using European know-how to guide local governments in defining their role to tackle climate change.

Through the Urban-LEDS II project sixteen cities in Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Rwanda, and South Africa will be guided by sixteen European counterpart to develop comprehensive Urban Low Emissions Development Strategies, identify priority pilot projects and seek effective finance models for LEDS implementation.

The project constitutes a 2nd phase of the flagship project “Promoting Low Emissions Urban Development Strategies in Emerging Economy Countries - Urban-LEDS” which successfully ran from 2012 to 2015.

In this second step, the primary objective of developing LED strategies integrated in the city planning becomes more ambitious with a strong focus on adaptation and climate resilience to ensure a comprehensive climate and development approach.
European cities will engage in peer-to-peer exchange with cities in the Global South and across Europe, share knowledge and experiences, learn from others, and benefit from great capacity development opportunities such as building programmes and technical sessions oriented to identify, develop and prioritise pilot projects in the field of low emissions and climate resilient development as well as discussions on innovative financing, and business models to unlock climate finance and project guidance on financing local action.

For more information about the project, click here.