The world is facing a series of interconnected crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, natural disasters, and conflicts, which collectively form the "triple planetary crisis." These crises have severe socio-economic impacts on cities, particularly vulnerable communities, and hinder progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Local governments are facing fiscal constraints, making it challenging to build urban resilience and access funds for response and recovery plans.

The project aims to address these challenges by strengthening the capacity of selected cities to design and implement inclusive and resilient economic and financial responses to crises. This project builds upon a previous initiative that developed knowledge resources and action plans for 16 pilot cities worldwide. The new project will support five pilot cities from different regions, focusing on implementing existing action plans to address the triple planetary crisis and accessing financing for sustainable urban responses.

The project will enhance the cities' capacity to engage with donors and international financial institutions, resulting in concrete projects and programs supporting urban resilience. By the project's end, the target cities are expected to have the capacity to prepare project pipelines and engage directly with financial institutions. Activities will include capacity-building, identification of financing sources for the cities’ projects and support with those projects' development. It also emphasizes continued support and knowledge exchange among the pilot cities globally.

The project will be implemented by the United Nations Regional Economic Commissions, in collaboration with UN-HABITAT CRGP as well as with UN DESA, UNCDF, and UN resident coordinators' offices. In addition, the Geneva Cities Hub, an international NGO in Geneva, Switzerland, will be engaged in the project activities. Its goal is to strengthen the economic and financial capacity of cities to mitigate, recover, and transform towards sustainability in the face of shocks and stresses caused by the triple planetary crisis