African cities are increasingly on the frontline of climate change, facing escalating risks from flooding, heat stress, coastal erosion, water scarcity and ecosystem degradation. With urban populations expected to double by 2050 and extreme weather events projected to rise by 50% before 2030, Nature-based Solutions (NbS) offer a cost-effective and integrated pathway to strengthen resilience, restore ecosystems, reduce disaster risk, enhance biodiversity and improve livelihoods, while generating significant returns, with every USD 1 invested in urban green infrastructure delivering an average USD 3 in ecosystem services. Despite growing innovation across Africa, many successful urban NbS initiatives remain insufficiently documented and struggle to access the finance needed for scaling. To address this challenge, UN-Habitat, in partnership with the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and Earthna, is launching an initiative to promote knowledge sharing, support the development of investment-ready NbS projects, and build an evidence base that will inform an Urban Nature-based Solutions Toolkit for cities. COP17 provides a timely platform to showcase African leadership and innovation, foster partnerships, and accelerate the implementation and financing of nature-positive urban development across the continent.

The event aims to showcase outstanding African urban Nature-based Solutions, highlight practical lessons for scaling implementation and stimulate dialogue amongst cities, financial institutions and practitioners on how to accelerate investment in nature-positive urban development.

Specifically, the Session will:

1. Present key findings from the joint curation of the African Urban Nature Based Solutions Toolkit. 
2. Showcase selected high-impact urban NbS implemented across African cities. 
3. Highlight enabling policies, governance, and financing approaches 
4. Launch the African Urban Nature Based Solutions Toolkit and encourage continued contributions to the initiative