The second edition of the Hamburg Sustainability Conference, the flagship global gathering on the topic, concluded on Tuesday. The two-day event brought together global leaders from various sectors to develop solutions for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

This year’s theme was “Together We Co-Create Sustainable Development.”

The concluding session of the event, titled “Empowering Municipalities with Private Capital for Sustainable Urban Development,” focused on key issues related to urban finance.

Topics discussed included the challenges of urban climate finance and their connection to the SDGs, strategies for mobilising private capital for municipalities, and the difficulties local governments face in leveraging private finance.

Participants in the session included Niels Annen, Designated State Secretary at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development; Ming Zhang, Global Director for Urban, Resilience and Land at the World Bank; María Fernanda Espinosa, Former President of the UN General Assembly; and Claire Coustar, Vice Chair of the Board of Directors at Deutsche Bank Turkey.

The session, hosted by Biswas Baral, Editor of The Kathmandu Post, also featured remarks by J. Cleo Kawawaki, Director General at the Asian Development Bank, and Mark Bowman, Vice President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Closing remarks were delivered by Anaclaudia Rossbach, Executive Director of UN-Habitat.

During the session, Baral spoke about the challenges faced by Nepal’s cities—Kathmandu in particular—including difficulties in budget utilisation and ongoing struggles with urban flooding, lack of public spaces, and ineffective waste management.