As we inch closer to the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP30, in Brazil this November, cities in the global south are pushing to claim a seat at the table — not just to talk, but to unlock funding they urgently need to adapt to climate change.
One of those cities is Chefchaouen, a small, mountainous town in northern Morocco with a population of under 50,000. It’s known for its winding blue-painted alleys and ecotourism industry. But it also wants to be recognized for something else: becoming a model for climate finance to flow more regularly to small cities.
Chefchauen recently hosted a convening of 60 national, regional, and municipal officials to discuss a question that’s gaining urgency in climate-vulnerable countries: How can local governments directly access the billions in climate finance pledged in Baku, Azerbaijan, at last year’s COP29? The finance is promised by wealthier nations and typically gets routed to national governments through funds such as the Green Climate Fund or the Global Environment Facility, as well as through multilateral development banks and sometimes directly from donor countries. Countries have to apply for this funding and navigate bureaucratic hurdles to get it — and the fewer resources a country or city has, the harder it is to secure funding.
About the author
Jesse Chase-Lubitz
Jesse Chase-Lubitz covers climate change and multilateral development banks for Devex. She previously worked at Nature Magazine, where she received a Pulitzer grant for an investigation into land reclamation. She has written for outlets such as Al Jazeera, Bloomberg, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, and The Japan Times, among others. Jesse holds a master’s degree in Environmental Policy and Regulation from the London School of Economics.
