In order to alleviate the economic and social consequences of COVID-19, several public and private entities have announced economic stimulus packages: national governments have proposed fiscal and monetary stimulus; multilateral development banks (MDBs) and climate funds have announced recovery funds to assist developing countries and emerging economies; and a number of private institutions have launched initiatives promoting green infrastructure investment opportunities. 

These COVID-19 recovery packages under development are an opportunity, especially for cities, to relaunch their economies and promote a green transition to carbon neutrality. Yet, it is still unclear how cities might benefit from these recovery funds and how related to urban climate finance these funds will be.

This policy brief aims at responding to this problem. This brief examines the COVID-19 recovery assistance for cities from key funders - national governments, Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), and the private sector and introduces the key trends that have been found. As barries still exist in terms of directly providing funding to cities, and finding approaches to addressing the diverse economic, regulatory, and sectoral needs in a comprehensive way. Hence, this brief further addresses such challenges and provides recommendations.