Net-Zero Energy Revenue Bonds for EV adoption, EV charging, and more: Case Study with City of Burlington, VT

Burlington voters recently approved a US$20 million Net-Zero Energy Revenue Bond for Burlington Electric Department with 70% of voters supporting the ballot measure. The Bond will allow Burlington Electric Department to expand the Green Stimulus incentives that have helped the community switch to electric vehicles (EVs) and cold-climate heat pumps. The bond also will support grid updates for technology systems to better serve customers and new EV charging stations. This CDP Sustainable Infrastructure webinar will provide opportunity to hear directly from the Burlington Electric Department about this financing mechanism and how it helps to meet the city's goals.

Solar Project Development & Best Practices for the Public Sector

Local governments face an uncertain future for tax finance tools to support solar development, turbulence in the global solar supply chains and increasing community demand for local, affordable, equitable clean electricity production. Despite these challenges, local governments must lead in building resilient systems to deal with climate volatility. How can municipalities overcome the hurdles to developing and financing their solar projects? What role does the unpredictable landscape for investment and production tax credits play? Hear from investors, project developers, and industry leaders in the solar space. Watch the webinar here.

From identifying funding opportunities to clicking “submit,” navigating the grant process can be challenging. This webinar breaks down how to craft more competitive grant applications tp increase the success rate of your submissions. Learn about the steps you may need to take before you even start writing, including how to identify priority projects, determine suitable funding sources and avoid common pitfalls.

2021 Cohort Showcase: City Projects

This workshop session showcases the need for projects in development by cities participating in the Catalyze Cohort. These projects range from greenways and electric vehicle charging infrastructure, to green stormwater infrastructure. City staff highlight their projects to engage participating companies and investors on potential areas of collaboration to accelerate project development. In breakout rooms, participants discuss what their biggest project needs are, the challenges they face and what kind of help they need from their partners.

Projects as Equitable Economic Development

Sustainability staff from both cities and companies, often find it difficult to generate support for specific projects across departments, with upper management and with potential partner organizations. Tune in to this webinar to learn how to make the case for your sustainability projects and foster collaboration internally and externally.

Project Considerations: Equity, Risks and Operations

This session provides participants with an overview of potential points of consideration during project design and implementation. Participants engage in discussions on how co-creation with the community can reduce risks, how to ensure long-term community engagement with the project, how to manage the long-term operations of a project, how to identify potential risks to a project and mitigate risks between partners or potential partners.

Financing Projects

This session explores how a city or a company can finance their sustainability project. What are the financial mechanisms available to cities and companies? What are some innovative and creative ways to fund transportation and green infrastructure projects? Learn from investors sharing insights on what drives their investment decisions and the landscape of financing solutions for your projects.

Accessing Capital for Clean Energy Projects

As cities across the United States lead with renewable energy and greenhouse gas emission reduction goals, access to capital is critical to implement renewable energy projects. The Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office (LPO) provides access to debt capital for commercial-scale clean energy projects in the United States and has US$40 billion in loans and loan guarantees available. Check out this webinar featuring CDP’s Sustainable Infrastructure Team and our partners the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative (MRCTI) and National League of Cities, to learn more from DOE LPO Executive Director Jigar Shah on how leveraging LPO debt capital can help cities scale up their sustainability efforts.

Municipal Bonds & the Value of CDP Disclosure: Issuer Roundtable - Climate Week NYC 2020

Cities and public agencies explain how fixed income financing facilitates robust sustainability work, the importance of disclosure and transparency around the use of proceeds raised through bond finance and the role that CDP disclosure plays for these issuers in facilitating both their continuing disclosure and their sustainability work more broadly. Watch the webinar here.

Municipal Bonds for Sustainable Communities

Due to the emergence of COVID-19, social bond issuance unexpectedly surpassed green bond issuance in 2020. Both the treasury and federal reserve are engaged in grantmaking and lending activities that are completely unprecedented. At a moment when the flow of dollars into stronger, cleaner and more just cities is front and center on the national stage, how can local leaders position their projects and plans to achieve as much as possible while managing the climate change impacts, economic crisis and a pandemic? Watch the webinar here.

Financing Fundamentals for Sustainability Projects

How do cities finance climate and sustainability projects? What are the financial mechanisms available to cities? We were joined by HIP Investor to learn how cities can approach financing sustainability projects. HIP Investor shared insights from their work in the USDN Financing Sustainable Cities Scan & Toolkit, an action-oriented resource for city leaders to understand implementable funding mechanisms that can support cities striving toward bold climate action and sustainability goals. Watch the webinar here.

Issuing Environmental Impact Bonds

Environmental Impact Bonds (EIBs) are an innovative financing tool that can provide upfront capital to tackle environmental challenges. We were joined by Quantified Ventures to learn about the process of issuing EIBs, the stakeholders involved and examples of successful EIB projects. This webinar is recommended for cities and counties in the US. Watch the webinar here.

Developing a Green Bank

Green banks are a powerful tool to advance climate action by connecting clean energy and energy efficiency projects with capital. We were joined by the Coalition for Green Capital for an introduction to green banks, including steps to launch a local green bank to serve your community. Watch the webinar here.

PEOPLE — Shared Community Assets

This session focused on community-activated networks, emergency support systems and accessible carbon-neutral mobility options - highlighting the public systems most visible and usable for individual residents. How can innovative financial structures be used to promote emergency preparedness, form resilience hubs, improve public transportation options and EV charging infrastructure? Learn about potential financing paths as well as the methods available to highlight co-benefits for vulnerable neighborhoods and underserved communities.

PLANET — Green and Blue Urban Resilience

This session focused on regenerative and resilient community landscapes and flood-adapted, safe and livable cities. What methods are available to attract capital into critical solutions such as natural ecological infrastructure, green infrastructure and other nature-based solutions? How can local governments structure urban canopy projects, stormwater storage and urban heat island mitigation projects to best lower costs while emphasizing public safety and community development efforts?

PLACES — Clean Energy and Efficiency

This session covered affordable, net-zero buildings and municipal-centric efforts to advance clean energy and efficiency. What are the financing options available to support retrofits for low-income households, affordable public housing, private businesses and community shelters? We discussed green banks, C-PACE and other financing options that can support these vital emissions reduction activities, as well as how to best highlight the cost reduction, economic development and public health ramifications of clean energy and efficiency projects.

Part 1 | Introduction to Water Infrastructure Project Financing

Financing municipal infrastructure projects always involves intense support by legal counsel, particularly during the contract development and financial structuring phases. Understanding the role of counsel can be important to the financing strategy. Norton Rose Fulbright joins us to demystify how project financing of water infrastructure works, explain the differences of project financing from traditional municipal financing and explore the implications arising from those differences. This is part one of a two-part series on legal perspectives about project financing for water infrastructure. Watch the webinar here.

Part 2 | Strategies for Financing Water Infrastructure: Exploring Credit Requirements, Federal Funding, Public-Private Partnerships and Private Capital

What makes an attractive water infrastructure project from the perspectives of a public or private lender, an investor or the public markets? Norton Rose Fulbright, Smith’s Research and Gradings and the Environmental Protection Agency discuss how to structure projects from a capital perspective, federal funding options, the role of public-private partnerships and strategies to involve private capital in your water infrastructure. Watch the webinar here.