Towards Climate Action

Africa is positioned in the eye of the climate storm, yet its cities remain the least prepared in terms of responding and adapting to the impacts of climate change. Similarly, the future of its urban green infrastructure (UGI) is under severe threat with rapid unplanned urbanization becoming ubiquitous across African cities. The colliding force of rapid unplanned urbanization and climate change has predisposed many African cities to uncharted and unsustainable territory, particularly for UGI. However, given the emergence of the ‘new cities’ concept in the continent and with over 50 new city projects underway across African cities, this project inquires: Can the birth of new cities provide space for financing UGI towards climate mitigation and environmental justice? Focusing on Accra, Ghana’s national capital, this project: (1) analyzes the potential and challenges of leveraging new cities for funding the provision of UGI in low-income urban settlements as a climate change mitigation strategy; and (2) examines the preparedness of city management institutions to apply land-based financing strategies to manage climate change.

We used a mixed methods research methodology involving agency interviews with urban planning and climate change related institutions, community surveys with residents of low-income communities and new cities, secondary data, and spatial (GIS) data analysis. This project addresses three main questions: (1) What are the current land-based financing (LBF) tools in Ghana and what conditions enable or constrain their application for climate action? (2) Which LBF tools can be applied in new cities for purposes of UGI financing in low-income urban settlements and what are the challenges? (3) How prepared are city authorities – in terms of knowledge and skills – in applying LBF tools in new cities?
Findings show that low-income communities are at high risk of extreme heat due to, among others, inadequate urban green infrastructure. This situation makes them vulnerable to climate change. The majority of the built environment professionals interviewed (76 percent) believe that LBF instruments can be used to finance climate action in low-income communities. Property rates, building permit fees, and ground rent from stool lands are the most popular LBF tools among built environment professionals. The main constraints to the application of these LBF tools are resistance by property owners, limited capacities for land/property assessment, inadequate land
registry, and low level of demand for building permit services. Sound urban planning, effective urban governance, and political will are fundamental to enable the application of LBF for climate action and environmental justice. The findings also suggest that property rates, building permit fees, and development charges can be applied in new cities towards climate action. Yet, the limited appreciation of the impacts of climate change for poorer communities among residents of new cities could potentially lead to resistance in payment of land-based taxes with the purpose of providing green infrastructure in deprived communities.
The findings suggest that city authorities are unable to develop and apply original ideas relating to the application of LBF tools in new cities for climate action. They also have limited capacity to gather and interpret data to inform their judgments on climate change and environmental justice. Finally, they show limited capability to communicate climate change information, problems, and solutions to a range of audiences including residents of new cities and the general public. The research recommends the following:

● The need to address heat risk in vulnerable communities through increasing tree cover coverage;
● transparency and accountability in the application of LBF in new cities for climate action; and
● integrating urban green infrastructure’s linkages with land value capture in city authorities’ knowledge and training.