Frequently Asked Questions

Please use the contact form on the website for all questions related to the Gap Fund and expressions of interest for which you do not find the answers below.

Cities, municipal authorities and local governments of developing or emerging countries eligible to receive official development assistance as defined by the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee can apply for Gap Fund support. When a city is not the direct applicant, evidence of support from the local government to which the expression of interest relates will be requested during the selection process. For example, applications may be made by municipal enterprises (such as water companies, waste management agencies), private sector providers of urban services (such as companies providing services under contract to a city) and urban developers (such as companies delivering affordable housing). An Expression of Interest may also be submitted by entities representing groups of municipalities (e.g., municipal associations), national or regional municipal agencies, municipal development banks or national development banks responsible for municipal investment. Evidence of support from the relevant local government will be required in all cases.

Expressions of interest can be submitted on a rolling basis. There are no deadlines.

The Gap Fund provides technical assistance for upstream and early-stage concept development for low-carbon and climate-resilient urban planning and projects that align with the Paris Agreement objectives. Proposals therefore must have an urban focus and the potential to make a significant impact on climate change mitigation and/or adaptation. Sectors include, nature based solution and green areas, urban mobility, energy efficiency and small renewables including in new or retrofit buildings, street lighting, district cooling and heating, solid waste and wastewater, circular economy and eco-district approaches including for slum upgrades. Please refer to the eligibility criteria.

The Gap Fund is a global fund that supports cities in developing countries in all regions. All countries on the OECD DAC list of ODA recipients are eligible. There are currently no fixed allocations of support per target region. However the Gap Fund may launch subsequent calls for expressions of interest targeting specific regions or sectors to achieve the broadest possible geographical and sectoral coverage. If the Gap Fund receives multiple Expressions of Interest from the same city (e.g. from different departments or agencies), the Gap Fund will contact the applicants and seek to priorities, combine or coordinate the different proposals.

The Gap Fund reviews each submission no matter the size of the city, on a case-by-case basis. In general, the Gap Fund targets rapidly urbanizing cities in developing countries. This includes large metropolitan areas as well as second and third tier cities that are rapidly urbanizing. For very small cities we encourage applicants to work with other cities in the region with similar issues to submit a multi-city proposal.

The Gap Fund aims to support proposals with a sizeable climate mitigation and/or adaptation impact or that can be considered as pilots or proofs of concept that, if successful, can be easily replicated in other geographic areas or ‘scaled up’. As each proposal is different, there is no minimum size for an application to be considered. However, the potential to deliver significant climate benefits is an essential selection criterion during the detailed assessment phase.

The Gap Fund provides technical assistance for planning, strategy development and early-stage project definition and pre-feasibility. It does not provide support beyond project feasibility assessment stage, including implementation financing. However, proposals that are approved for Gap Fund support would also benefit from facilitation for potential matchmaking opportunities with the WB, EIB, GIZ and other project preparation and financing facilities for later stage project support.

In exceptional cases, projects at a more advanced stage (but for which there are gaps in the previous project preparation phases) may be considered — provided they are expected to generate significant climate co-benefits and/or they present significant potential for scalability and replicability in other contexts.

The Gap Fund provides advisory support and technical assistance for early-stage project preparation and climate investment planning, i.e. up to pre-feasibility stage. The technical assistance is provided in-kind either by the implementing partner’s (WB, EIB, GIZ) in-house experts or external consultants recruited directly by the implementing partners.

The types of technical assistance provided can range from building capacity for cities and local governments to planning low-carbon, climate-resilient development, to supporting early stage project preparation, defining the project concept, carrying out or supporting pre-feasibility work, analysing available alternatives (e.g. technological solutions), enhancing project bankability and identifying potential sources of finance. Further information on Gap Fund-supported activities can be found here.

The Gap Fund does not directly provide financing for the underlying investment at the implementation phase of the project, nor are funds transferred to applicants for the support activities.

The Gap Fund provides technical assistance to support upstream and early-stage concept development for low-carbon and climate-resilient urban planning and projects that align with the Paris Agreement objectives. Proposals therefore must have an urban focus and the potential to make a significant impact on climate change mitigation and/or adaptation. Sectors include, NBS and green areas, urban mobility, EE and small renewables including building retrofits, street lighting, district cooling and heating, solid waste and wastewater, circular economy, eco-district approaches including for slum upgrades.

COVD-19 continues to impact cities, large and small, worldwide. The Gap Fund can support cities’ medium- to long-term COVID-19 recovery efforts across different sectors that also address climate change mitigation and/or resilience in urban areas. A note and slide deck explaining how the Gap Fund can support recovery in the COVID-19 pandemic era can be found here. Examples of the types of support the Gap Fund would consider include: 

• Medium-term: Pre-feasibility support to labor-intensive investments including drainage systems, water supply and sanitation systems, solid waste management and waste to energy solutions, multi-purpose community centers, green/public spaces, inclusive public transport and other non-motorized transport options, green infrastructure design interventions and other nature-based solutions.
• Long-term: Analytics to advise on city economy, spatial growth, environment and public health, affordable housing, transit-oriented development corridor strategies, sustainable cooling approaches, pre-feasibility support to climate-smart investments that reduce emissions and improve resource consumption, use of renewable energy sources in the delivery of energy services, and green buildings.

As a first step the applicant should ensure the project proposal meets the eligibility criteria for Gap Fund support. Second an Expression of Interest form must be completed and submitted either directly by the city or local government, or if not, with explicit approval from the city or local government. Third, the applicant will be informed as to whether the submission meets the eligibility criteria of the Gap Fund and has been shortlisted for further follow-up or is not being considered further by the Gap Fund. 

If not shortlisted, and consent is given by the applicant in the EOI, the Gap Fund Secretariat will share the application with other Gap Fund partners, GCOM, ICLEI, C40, CCFLA and other potential sources of project support.  

If shortlisted, the applicant will be contacted by either the WB or EIB  Gap Fund Technical Secretariats or Regional teams to set up an exploratory call to discuss the background, details and scope of the application. Depending on the outcome of this call, either the WB or EIB regional teams will then work with the applicant to develop a detailed application to the Gap Fund.

The Gap Fund Secretariats will then assess the detailed application with consideration of the following: the extent and credibility of anticipated climate action benefits; replication potential and scalability; alignment with central and local government commitments; positive environmental, social and economic co-benefits; potential bankability or creditworthiness; political ownership; and, priority at city government and the national level. The applicant will then be informed as whether or not their detailed application has been approved by the Gap Fund Secretariat. 

As above, additional considerations that may help increase the chances of your proposal for receiving Gap Fund support include:

• Completeness and quality of the proposal, in particular clarity on the specific type of support being requested;
• Size and credibility of climate mitigation or adaptation impact potential;
• Potential for replicability and scalability to other cities or regions;
• Innovation or first of kind type activity in the city or country;
• Considerations regarding the geographical and sectoral spread;
• Cities that are rapidly urbanizing or sprawling;
• Political ownership by the city or local government
• Alignment with central and local government commitments
• Potential bankability or creditworthiness

Gap Fund support is provided free of charge, thanks to donor funding. However, cities and their partners (e.g., service providers, municipal companies and other organisations) receiving Gap Fund support must cover their Gap Fund application costs and staff time (e.g., costs and time associated with interacting with experts and advisors provided by the Gap Fund or to submit relevant documentation/data about their city, strategy, project or proposal). Cities are also expected to be active partners in the process and identify relevant staff to actively engage with Gap Fund experts.

Examples of proposals receiving support from the Gap Fund will be published on the website. These examples are intended to provide inspiration for potential applicants. However, since each proposal is unique and must undergo a specific, detailed assessment, that a proposal in one sector/country has received Gap Fund support does not guarantee another proposal from the same geography will be supported. All Gap Fund applicants or prospective applicants are reminded that the Gap Fund aims to achieve the broadest possible geographical and sectoral coverage.

Yes. Gap Fund support is not contingent on being committed to GCoM or a member of a city network. It is, however, noted that membership and/or engagement with regional or city networks and other partners active in supporting climate action can help demonstrate commitment; such organisations may also be able to provide advice on completing the Expression of Interest application.

If eligible, the proposal will move to the next phase and the applicant will be contacted requesting additional information and a more detailed assessment. An overall assessment will then be conducted, and the applicant will be informed of the result. If the outcome is positive, the applicant will receive confirmation about the scope of technical assistance to be provided by the Gap Fund. The timelines for receiving notification will vary by applicant and depend not only on the completeness of the original application but the time required to seek any additional clarifications. As such, applicants are encouraged to be as thorough and specific as possible at all stages of the process.

You should only submit your completed Expression of Interest form after collecting all relevant proposal information, including information from other relevant departments or agencies in the local administration. If you have difficulties understanding the information required in the form, kindly refer to the question “I have some difficulties filling in my Expression of Interest. Who can I ask for support?” If some information required to complete the application form is unavailable, applicants can leave that part of the form blank and submit the Expression of Interest. All applicants should clearly understand, however, that failing to provide as much information as possible on the form may not only delay the process but reduce a project’s chances of being considered eligible and moving forward to the detailed assessment phase.

Proposals from smaller municipalities can be bundled into one multi-city Expression of Interest provided they can be considered activities of a coherent programme (i.e. they concern the same sector or area and have the same climate objectives). As an example, a municipal solid waste management project serving several small neighbouring municipalities can be considered a single project if it allows for economies of scale and a higher efficiency than individual projects of a similar nature developed separately by each municipality.

The Gap Fund provides technical assistance for early stage projects (i.e., projects for which feasibility studies have not yet been completed). If your city’s projects can be considered as activities of a coherent programme (i.e., they concern the same sector or same area/city neighbourhood and have the same climate objectives), they can be included in one Expression of Interest. If, however, your city has several projects meeting the Gap Fund eligibility criteria that can be considered standalone projects, applicants are welcome to submit more than one Expression of Interest.

If the proposal does not meet eligibility criteria, the application will be rejected outright. Other proposals may also be rejected if the additional information provided through the selection process is insufficient or does not demonstrate considerable impact in comparison with other applications received. In this case, the rationale for rejecting an application will be specified and the applicant will have the opportunity to submit a new application for the same proposal once the issues highlighted in the selection process have been addressed.

The Gap Fund website includes a wealth of information on successful project applications, including an interactive global MAP of projects, project Stories tab and the Fund Annual report. These examples are intended to provide inspiration for potential applicants.

As the Gap Fund aims to support proposals that align with the Paris Agreement objectives , a proposal’s expected climate mitigation and/or adaptation impact is an essential selection criterion during the detailed assessment phase (see question “How will the selection process work in practice?”).

However, considering that proposals requesting Gap Fund support will be early stage, a proposal’s expected climate mitigation or adaptation potential may be unavailable at the time of application. Accordingly, this information will be collected during the implementation of the technical assistance, whenever possible, depending on the type of assignment.

In the Expression of Interest form, the applicant must commit to estimating the climate change mitigation and/or adaptation potential of the proposed project — either independently or with Gap Fund support as part of the technical support package. The applicant can use standard methodologies and publicly available tools for scenario planning to identify low-carbon urbanisation pathways under various business-as-usual (BAU) and target scenarios or request the support of the Gap Fund experts to conduct preliminary analyses of greenhouse gas emission reductions or savings.

It depends. If your city’s proposals can be considered as activities of a coherent programme (i.e. they concern the same sector or same area/city neighbourhood and have the same climate objectives), they can be included in one Expression of Interest. If, however, your city has several projects meeting the Gap Fund eligibility criteria that can be considered standalone projects, applicants are welcome to submit more than one Expression of Interest. Projects combining investments across two or more sectors are also welcome recognizing that climate action is multi-sectoral and may involve stakeholders across the full range of a city’s investment plan.

It is important that proposals receiving Gap Fund support fit within an overarching urban climate strategy or action plan. However, if an applicant’s city is in the process of developing such a strategy and the submitted proposal aligns with its objectives, even though they may not yet be formalised in a climate action plan or similar document, applicants are still invited to complete and submit an Expression of Interest form. It is important to highlight here that if a city has not begun developing such a plan or requires support to update an outdated existing plan or strategy, the Gap Fund can assist.

The Gap Fund aims to support proposals that align with the Paris Agreement objectives and therefore a proposal’s expected climate mitigation and/or adaptation impact is an essential selection criterion during the detailed assessment phase (see question “How will the selection process work in practice?”).

However, considering that proposals requesting Gap Fund support will be early stage, a proposal’s expected climate mitigation or adaptation potential may be unavailable at the time of application. Accordingly, this information will be collected during the implementation of the technical assistance, whenever possible, depending on the type of assignment.

In the Expression of Interest form the applicant must commit to estimating the climate change mitigation and/or adaptation potential of the proposed project that will help achieve low carbon, climate resilient urbanization pathways— either independently or with Gap Fund support as part of the technical support package. The applicant can use standard methodologies and publicly available tools for scenario planning to identify the climate impacts and target scenarios or request the support of the Gap Fund experts and partners to conduct preliminary analyses of greenhouse gas emission reductions or reduction in climate vulnerability.

At the EOI stage, a formal expression of support signed by the relevant political authority is not required. However, as specified in the EOI form, the applicant does commit to providing evidence of local political support for the proposal at the detailed application stage. 

Political support or endorsement is an essential for success, not only for implementing proposals but in ensuring their longer-term sustainability and benefits. Applicants must provide evidence the proposed activities align with the Paris Agreement, in addition to existing climate action plans, master plans and urban development plans at the local level. 

Formal evidence of political level support would be required once the project scope is identified in the detailed assessment phase.

In general it is important that proposals receiving Gap Fund support fit within an overarching urban climate strategy or action plan. In the case where the city is still in the process of developing such a climate strategy or plan and the submitted proposal aligns with its objectives; applicants are still invited to complete and submit an Expression of Interest form (even though it may not yet be formalised in a climate action plan or similar document). In the case where the city has not yet begun developing a climate strategy or plan, or requires support to update an outdated existing one, applicants are encouraged to flag this in the EOI for Gap Fund support. 

In operation since September 2020, the Gap Fund is a global partnership to help cities and local authorities in developing countries plan, prioritize and deliver projects focused on climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Donors should consider contributing to the Gap Fund because:

• Cities and urban systems are key to achieving national and global climate targets.  Cities are home to the most people, assets and innovation. More than 70% of greenhouse gases come from urban areas. o    At the same time, about 55% of the world’s population lives in cities, and 80 percent of global GDP is generated in cities. This means that the impact of extreme heatwaves, droughts, heavy flooding, sea level rise, spread of tropical diseases, and all other impacts of climate change will greatly impact urban residents and urban economies. The infrastructure needs of cities to shift to low carbon, resilient future requires trillions of dollars, especially in rapidly urbanizing cities in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.
• The Gap Fund is filling a critical capacity gap at the very beginning of urban planning and project design to ensure robust data and analytics and quality pipelines that are bankable. The Gap Fund’s technical support focuses on the early stages of the project preparation cycle, which is not covered by most project preparation facilities, which generally target more mature projects. As such, it is highly complementary to the existing spectrum of technical support currently available to cities. 
• It provides catalytic funding: By focusing on the critical early stages of urban planning and project design, is a catalyst to unleashing a much larger volume of finance for city-level climate activities, with a goal of leveraging 40$ for each 1$ invested in the Fund.
• It demonstrates a unique collaborative design. The Gap Fund presents a one stop shop for cities on the front end, and an ecosystem of 10 partners on the backend, including the World Bank and EIB/GIZ that co-deliver the work program in partnership with the global initiatives and city networks the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy (GCOM), the City Climate Finance Leadership Alliance (CCFLA), C40, and ICLEI. These partners play a crucial role in supporting the Gap Fund’s mission by ensuring it is demand driven and focused on the key issues most important to city clients; raising awareness among the cities they interact with and supporting potential Gap Fund beneficiaries in preparing their expressions of interest; and coordinating peer to peer learning and technical knowledge on city-climate related themes and amplifying the voice of cities. 
• Cities are energized and motivated to act and there is a large demand for early stage support. During its first year of operations the Gap Fund has received and screened more than 150 Expressions of Interest originating from Africa, Latin America, Central and Eastern Asia, the MENA region, and European and Central Asia region. Out of these, project support has been approved for 33 cities so far. The Gap Fund targets at least 180 cities. Now that the working mechanisms and operational procedures are in place, with more resources the Gap Fund could cater to the needs of more cities and have a higher impact in turning ideas into concrete low-carbon and resilient urban infrastructure plans and projects.
• The Gap Fund has the flexibility and partnerships to be responsive to the unique needs of each city that require context specific solutions. The Gap Fund is an innovative and agile instrument that aims to get ahead of the growth curve in urbanization, especially in Africa and Asia.

As a Donor to the Gap Fund, you will be supporting cities in developing countries turn their climate ideas, plans and projects into reality. Given the co-benefits of climate-smart investment in an era of pandemic response and resilience, donors will also be contributing to a green recovery for cities impacted by COVID-19.

• Two Trust Funds: The Gap Fund operates as one initiative organized around two multi-donor trust funds, one managed by the EIB and the other one managed by the World Bank. The Gap Fund structure ensures strong partnerships and coordinated governance and implementation. 
• Partnerships: Regular exchange between partners including donors, implementing agencies, cities, and other actors will be facilitated through the Gap Fund Partnership Forum.  
• Governance: Donors provide strategic direction to the two separate MDTFs implemented by the WB and EIB through their respective donor committees. The donor committees for the two MDTFs are held concomitantly with cross-participation of the WB and EIB as observers in each-other’s donors committee to ensure coordination and consistency between the implementation of the two MDTFs. 
• Implementation coordination: EIB-WB collaboration includes: (i) joint outreach, communication and knowledge-sharing activities carried out in partnership with cities networks and other key partners, (ii) a “one gap fund” website offering information on both Gap Fund MDTFs and the ability for cities to submit their expression of interest to the Gap Fund, and (iii) coordination mechanisms for the WB and EIB to screen Expression of Interests and agree on further processing by either of the two MDTFs.

• Focus on early-stage project preparation. Unlike most Project Preparation Facilities (PPFs), the Gap Fund uniquely comes in at the very early stage of urban planning and project preparation – before the feasibility stage. It fills gaps in technical assistance for data and analytics to answer the hard questions on climate mitigation and adaptation potential, impact, prioritization and planning. To ensure maximum efficiency, the Gap Fund aims to close gaps in urban planning and project preparation that are not or cannot be covered by other project preparation facilities. 
• Support to analytics and strategy development for low-carbon urban development. To complement existing programs implemented by the World Bank such as the City Resilience Program, the Gap Fund has a specific focus on supporting analytics and strategy development for low-carbon urban development.  

The Gap Fund has 10 partners so far. Three Donors, BMWK, BMZ and Luxembourg have contributed €55 million to the Gap Fund. There are also the implementing secretariats WB and EIB in partnership with GIZ and four city network and alliance partners – C40, GCOM, ICLEI and CCFLA.

To date, €55 million has been pledged to the Gap Fund. The Gap Fund has a target size of at least €100 million and aims to unlock more than €4 billion in investment for bankable climate action projects in cities. There is no defined minimum contribution.

The Gap Fund is open to contributions from both public and private sectors.

The Gap Fund only supports urban projects and initiatives with the strong potential to help cities reduce emissions that align with the goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius or adapting to climate change. Accordingly, the extent of a proposal’s climate ambition is a key selection factor. Strong engagement of the World Bank and EIB ensure that selected proposals also have a ‘reality check’ as far as financing potential and physical implementation. The Gap Fund  intervenes at the critical early stage of planning/project preparation and are expected to be catalytic to enable climate investments. Gap Fund donors would thus also be supporting low-carbon, climate-resilient urban development needed to achieve several of the SDGs — especially on Climate Action (SDG 13) and Sustainable Cities and Communities (SDG 11), but also Clean Water and Sanitation, (SDG 6), Affordable and Clean Energy, (SDG 7) and Decent Work and Economic Growth, (SDG 8).

The Gap Fund is a central initiative of the Leadership for Urban Climate Investment (LUCI), which promotes financing for ambitious urban climate action until 2025. LUCI links action-oriented initiatives that commit to remove barriers in financing climate-smart urban projects and was developed under the leadership of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. It is hosted by the Cities Climate Finance Leadership Alliance (CCFLA), the leading platform for international cooperation and knowledge exchange in the field of subnational climate finance.

The Gap Fund can be reached through the contact page on the website.