This project is aligned with IO2. Increased green growth investment flows which enable partner governments to implement green growth policies, IO3. Improved multi-directional knowledge sharing and learning to empower local and external agents necessary to drive green growth processes in partner governments. 

The project will focus on the production of up to 20 bankable grant proposals per year (project concepts, offering two stages – entry point level that is easy to join, and follow up level that is longer term) for innovative green economy and green growth projects to be jointly implemented through the WGEO-GGGI networks at the national level, with each project starting with the requested budget of USD 300,000 (Three hundred thousand USD). 

This portfolio of proposals will then be systematically promoted by the WGEO, through ongoing resource mobilization campaigns, organization of regular pledging conferences, introduction of innovative approaches to resource mobilization such as wealthy individuals clubs, green economy innovation labs, etc., with a view of mobilizing resources from its external partners, including IFIs, technical cooperation agencies of the participating countries, ESG-compliant corporate entities, other bilateral and multilateral donors, to be contributed through the WGEO trust funds towards the implementation of these grant-supported projects. 

The ultimate goal of these grant-supported projects will be to pave the way for the promotion of green investment in the most strategically promising smart green city infrastructure development projects from within the portfolio developed by GGGI. In doing so, priority will be given to projects that already possess the majority of required feasibility studies, that are endorsed by respective national governments and are enshrined in national development plans, and thus could be qualified as solid project pipelines. Third party investors will be invited to join the projects in response to inviting/attractive conditions created in potential host countries, including various types of concessions, tax vacations, investment guarantee schemes, and local-co-investors. 

While the scale of the global challenge is known and new global agreements and policy frameworks have been adopted, the world now turns to the implementation agenda. The passage in 2015 of the new Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Change Agreement now set the stage for the implementation agenda. This includes growing attention to the role of leaders in the emerging South as new global partners for a green economy and green growth. 

In order to further support the countries proactively seeking to adopt the green economy/green growth model, WGEO and GGGI decided to enter into a joint project initiative that will focus on creating a partnership mobilization platform towards practical implementation of concrete country-level green economy and green growth projects with the focus on promotion of green investment in smart cities and sustainable infrastructure in energy, transportation, water, waste and land-use sectors. 

The overarching objective of the project is to contribute to promoting widespread adoption of green economy/green growth model in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication through support in mobilization of partners and resources towards practical implementation of country-level green economy and green growth projects with the focus on promotion of green investment in smart cities and sustainable infrastructure in energy, transportation, water, waste and land-use sectors. 

GGGI’s role is to develop a portfolio of smart green city infrastructure development projects, support the project board in identifying a limited number of most strategically promising projects within the portfolio, such as renewable energy based electrification projects, specialized green industrial zone development, climate resilient secondary cities development through eco-town and tourism, agribusiness and other urban livelihood improvement projects, waste management solutions and industrial scale waste to energy projects, e-mobility and green transportation, smart water solutions, and innovative climate resilient land-use projects in member and partner countries GCC, Middle East, Africa, Latin America, Caribbean and Asia & Pacific region, and provide systematic support in the implementation of these projects, including through mobilization of partners and resources through the partnership mobilization platform. 

Impact: Widespread adoption of green economy/green growth model in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication through mobilization of partners and resources towards practical implementation of country-level green economy and green growth projects with the focus on promotion of green investment in smart cities and sustainable infrastructure in energy, transportation, water, waste and land–use sectors. 

Outcome: N/A 

Project Outputs completed in 2019: 

i. Green Growth Policies:N/A

 ii. Green Investments:

• Advisory outputs that aim to create enabling environment: Project pipeline developed for the WGEO trust fund i.) Scoping of 22 business opportunities in the smart green cities sectors in WGEO member countries, ii.) Developing business plans and/or strategies in-line with WGEO’s objectives, iii.) Identifying& selecting local implementation partners and providing pre-investment technical assistance to develop high-quality business plans. 

iii. Capacity Building and Knowledge Products: N/A 

Project Manager: Lasse Ringius 
Da Yeon Choi, Musaad Saleh, Vamsi Duraibabu