Deadline: 12 August 2026 (23:59 CEST Time)

Background

The Hague and Eindhoven are actively engaged in the EU Mission for 100 climate-neutral cities by 2030. As part of their Climate City Contract through which they have received their respective mission labels, they have created a climate action plan setting out key investment needs. To achieve climate neutrality and prepare the respective cities for the impacts of climate change, large-scale investments are needed, both in public and private assets: Public infrastructure, public spaces, utilities, public and private buildings. Whilst some of these investments can take place on the basis of discreet project funding, in many cases the investments are inter-related, i.e., investment in one system or place depends on investment in another system or place. The scale of the investments needed is a challenge at a time of constrained local government resources.

The cities actively acknowledge the scale and complexity of the investment needs and have begun addressing this funding and finance gap, as well as the associated, knowledge, and capacity gaps. They also acknowledge that some investments are ‘bankable’ (i.e., appropriate for different forms of traditional project finance), whereas this is more complex for other investments. The constraints on public finance clearly also play a role in investment considerations.

Broadly, the challenges can be divided into two categories:

  1. Cities lack the capacity and expertise to create project pipelines and portfolios that are appropriate and attractive (in terms of feasibility, scale, commercial / non-commercial return, co-benefits and synergies with other stakeholder objectives, risk profile, etc) for a range of potential investor parties (public / private / philanthropic / civic); the cities are aware they need a clear prioritisation logic enabling them to envision what type of projects can be financed through which type of resources and to understand what processes are required to unlock these.
  2. The financial mechanisms of which the cities are aware seem partly ill-suited to answer fundamental large-scale and long-term questions the cities face with regards to financing a holistic sustainable and resilient urban future (the need to address both climate mitigation and adaptation, the need to address urban infrastructure systems in an integrated way, the need to address residents’ multiple needs and priorities, social justice, economic development opportunities, etc), prompting questions about what financial instruments would be appropriate and feasible given the scale of the challenge, and what the cities’ role is in developing and deploying those instruments.

Scope

Climate KIC, acting on behalf of NetZeroCities is requesting proposals to support The Hague and Eindhoven with addressing the challenges set out above. Specifically, the support should focus both on the capacity building and expertise development, and on the second (the need for appropriate tools and financial mechanisms – including novel mechanisms if needed – as well asprocesses and decision-making pathways), enabling the cities to progress tangibly with the ambitions set out in their CCCs.

The cities have engaged support both from NetZeroCities and other communities of practice, both in the Netherlands and beyond, and through commissioning a range of capacity building through their own respective budgets. The main relevant documents are cited in Annex 1. The cities have therefore already addressed different aspects of financial innovation in varying ways. The cities also are different, with a variety of instruments and knowledge and know-how they bring to the table. The cities’ aim is to systematise and complement their learning to date by engaging expert support to facilitate the next steps in capacity building and process development. This consists of the following key ingredients. Bidders are encouraged to propose a methodology (including the frequency of sessions) within the maximum budget indicated;

  1. Creating a shared understanding of the two cities’ different climate transition financing needs and potential solutions on the basis of relevant documentation such as documents shared in Annex 1 including the cities’ Climate Investment Plans (non-public – to be shared by cities), as a basis for developing a range of city-wide portfolio finance options, to enable strategic decision-making by each city.
  2. Creating a tailored capability building approach with key municipal team members from the two cities, facilitating their learning process over approximately a 4-month period. This will involve both sessions with the individual cities and knowledge exchange between the two cities, systematising insights in a way that make insights and lessons learnt sharable with both Dutch and other Mission Cities. The facilitation of this capability building should include:
    • Designing the overall learning arc and objectives together with the participants, and checking against / iterating this overall learning arc as the support is delivered.
    • Preparing, facilitating, and documenting regular sessions;
    • Bringing in outside expert perspectives where relevant and appropriate – It is expected that this will involve NetZeroCities experts, including from the NetZeroCities Capital Hub, some of whom have worked with the cities already; NetZeroCities’ expertise can be accessed without additional cost; however, bidders may suggest an approach that brings along additional external experts (i.e. beyond the core facilitator team). For indicative purposes, we suggest bidders price for up to four experts beyond the core facilitator team, suggesting experts they think may be relevant.
  3. Supporting the cities in developing a prioritisation logic based on work already done (see Annex 1) and a way to systematically prioritise different types of investments and match them to appropriate financing tools as the basis of portfolio management and a roadmap for funding the two cities’ climate ambitions;
  4. Supporting the cities in gaining insights in the diversity of their investment needs and their differential financial and societal (e.g. climate / social) return profile;
  5. Supporting the cities in gaining insight in the current investment landscape in the cities and on the national level, to understand where the cities’ needs and demands match supply of available funding and finance options, or where these are lacking;
  6. Supporting the cities in gaining an overview of finance tools and instrument options, and finance structuring approaches, to match them to their needs.
  7. Supporting the cities in gaining insights in the different roles they can play, including stakeholder engagement and decision making processes.

Timeline and additional information

Interested parties are invited to submit their proposals by 12 August 2026 (23:59 CEST Time) to Luisa Carretti and Mateusz Hoffman [CESF@netzerocities.eu]. Proposals should include and address all specific requirements related to the request which can be found below.