Cities are delivering urgent climate action through climate budgeting
Most cities have climate action plans, and a growing number are implementing climate budgeting to ensure climate goals drive actual spending decisions. Climate budgeting ensures that all budgetary decisions reflect key environmental and equitable priorities, helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and build community resilience.
Cities in C40’s Climate Budgeting Programme are accelerating their climate action by tracking which investments cut emissions and manage climate risk equitably. Breaking down ambitious goals into manageable yearly targets and tracking spending effectiveness allows cities to demonstrate progress.
This transparency builds public support and helps deliver ambitious outcomes. This work directly supports C40’s Leadership Standard commitment: by 2030, cities establish comprehensive governance structures that ensure climate targets are integrated across decision-making, including climate budgeting.
Why cities need climate budgeting
Connecting climate plans to spending decisions
Cities have ambitious climate action plans, but traditional budgeting processes weren’t designed for climate action. Departments operate separately, climate spending gets spread across different budget categories, and there’s no clear method for tracking whether investments actually reduce emissions or build resilience.
Climate budgeting changes this by weaving climate goals straight into how cities plan their spending. It’s a governance system that connects the whole of government to the city’s climate targets through specific budget allocations, assigns clear responsibility for implementation, and creates transparent reporting on results. Through the annual budget cycle, cities iteratively review and improve their actions, helping to address new measures and priorities.
This approach delivers practical benefits:
Accountability that works
Mayors can demonstrate to councils and residents exactly how climate spending is performing, with clear metrics on emissions reductions, managing climate risk, and the co-benefits delivered.
Better coordination
Climate and finance departments work systematically together rather than in parallel, strengthening project implementation, reducing duplication, and sharing responsibility across all departments.
Strategic resource allocation
Cities can identify which climate investments deliver the strongest results and reallocate funds from underperforming programmes to high-impact initiatives.
Implementation tracking
Regular monitoring shows which climate actions are meeting targets and which require adjustments, allowing cities to address issues before they become expensive problems. By implementing climate budgeting annually, cities can monitor, evaluate, and review their progress each year.
Transform your city’s climate governance approach
These resources support city teams at every stage of climate budgeting, from initial planning and stakeholder engagement to implementation and performance tracking.
Use C40’s step-by-step guide
This step-by-step guide provides practical guidance on how a city can introduce, develop, and implement climate budgeting, focusing on the governance aspects. It provides tips and resources to support a city on its climate budgeting journey, based on research, learnings, and experience from cities that participated in C40’s climate budget programme.
Align your budgeting processes with the Climate Budgeting Framework
The Climate Budgeting Framework (CBF) provides principles and criteria to guide cities in developing, implementing, and adopting a credible and robust climate budgeting process, setting out expectations for process and output. The principles and criteria help to ensure that a city’s process covers the full range of scope, powers, and authority through informed, transparent, and data-driven decision-making.
Develop climate budgeting strategies with our online course for leaders
Developed by the C40 Climate Budgeting Programme in collaboration with Apolitical, this online course helps senior government leaders understand how climate budgeting drives change. Learn from pilot cities like London, Mumbai, New York City, and Oslo as you develop strategies to align your city’s budget with climate goals. The course is based on C40’s Climate Budgeting Framework and supports cities working towards the C40 Leadership Standard of adopting climate budgeting by 2030.
Develop technical skills with our online course for public servants
Master the technical aspects of climate budgeting through this comprehensive online course developed by the C40 Climate Budgeting Programme in collaboration with Apolitical. Get practical guidance on designing and implementing robust climate budgets. Learn from real-world examples from cities that have successfully established climate budgeting systems. Work at your own pace while engaging with other public servants globally.
Keep updated with climate budgeting progress
Get quarterly insights from the Climate Budgeting Programme, including new knowledge resources, city progress and highlights, and Programme activities. Our newsletter connects you with a global community of practitioners working to align city budgets with climate goals.
Explore real-world climate budget examples
Discover how cities are turning climate plans into actionable spending priorities through their published climate budgets. See diverse approaches from cities like Montréal and Oslo, and find practical ideas and inspiration for implementing climate budgeting in your own city.
How C40 supports cities with climate budgeting
Programme activities and support
C40’s Climate Budgeting Programme connects cities to develop, implement, and enhance climate budgeting processes that fit their governance structures and contribute to meeting climate goals.
Peer-to-peer knowledge exchange
Regular meetings connecting city officials with technical experts
City staff participate in workshops and webinars to discuss challenges and opportunities in climate budgeting with other cities in the programme.
Research and knowledge development
Climate budgeting guidance tailored for city practitioners
We identify knowledge gaps through city consultations and develop resources to address these gaps, equipping cities with the tools they need to progress.
Technical resources and frameworks
Step-by-step guidance for implementation
Cities access resources designed specifically for different governance contexts and climate budgeting approaches.
Capacity building programmes
Skills development for ongoing project success
Workshops and training build city staff expertise on the key skills and processes needed for climate budgeting, such as:
- informing the budget with the technical analysis from the city’s Climate Action Plan
- securing leadership buy-in
- integrating priorities like adaptation, equity, and consumption-based emissions
- building cross-departmental capacity and breaking down silos between climate, finance, and other city teams
Cities currently participating in the Climate Budget Programme: Barcelona, Berlin, London, Montréal, Mumbai, New York City, Oslo, Stockholm, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Tshwane
Get in touch with the C40 Climate Budgeting team to learn more about the programme at climatebudgeting@c40.org.
Frequently asked questions
How do I show my council and residents that climate budgeting is working and delivering results?
Climate budgeting creates transparent reporting systems that track both spending and outcomes with the built-in accountability of delivering climate targets. Cities in the programme use metrics like emissions reductions per dollar spent, co-benefits delivered (air quality improvements, green jobs created), and progress toward climate targets. Regular climate budget reports demonstrate accountability to councils and residents, and offer approaches to improve the process in the next budget cycle.
What budgeting systems have worked for other cities, and how do I adapt them for my city?
Every city has unique governance structures, so there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. The programme connects you with cities facing similar challenges to share practical experiences. Read the climate budgeting framework and step-by-step guide, developed through learnings from diverse city contexts, for guidance that can be applied to all cities.
How do we get climate and finance staff working together effectively on budget integration?
Climate budgeting specifically focuses on breaking down silos between departments. Political and senior leadership can help secure buy-in, while initiating the process through the budgetary systems helps to engage all departments.
How do we actually integrate climate targets into our existing budget process without disrupting everything?
Use the Climate Action Plan as the basis to draw on key climate goals and targets to set the scope of action and offer a strong evidence base to get started. Identify an initial set of climate sectors and actions, then gradually expand the system. Cities that have published climate budgets began their journey with the most feasible actions. Then, they utilise the iterative nature of climate budgeting to learn and course-correct in subsequent budget years.
How long does it typically take to see results from climate budgeting systems?
Most cities start seeing organisational benefits – better coordination between departments, clearer tracking of climate spending – within the first budget cycle. Measurable outcomes, such as emissions reductions and risk reduction, typically become visible after two to three years, as projects funded through the climate budgeting process are implemented. Climate budgeting helps cities set realistic expectations and milestone indicators so they can demonstrate progress throughout the implementation process.
Resources
WHAT WE DO
Supporting cities to create ambitious climate strategies that deliver meaningful community benefits.
Commitments by C40 cities to drive ambitious climate results and halve fossil fuel use by 2030.
How C40 helps cities access the evidence and insight they need to accelerate climate action and create local opportunity.
