Rethinking the geographies of finance for urban climate action

Research on the geographies of finance for urban climate action has generated important insights into how climate agendas contribute to the financialisation of urban environments and strengthen the position of market actors in urban governance. However, by focusing on a limited set of financial instruments (e.g., green bonds, carbon credits), actors (e.g., real estate developers, private investors, international organisations), and projects (e.g., large-scale infrastructure), existing studies overlook the heterogeneity of financial relations, initiatives, and actors that make possible urban climate action. This includes, for instance, the deployment of decentralised, small-scale renewable energy technologies, or community-led adaptation efforts. In this paper, I explore how theorisations of heterogeneous/hybrid infrastructure, diverse economies, and popular economies can advance current research, through the analysis of three decentralised renewable energy projects in France, the UK, and Zimbabwe. These concepts, I argue, can help us to expand our understanding of the multiple financial relations that underpin urban climate interventions and to explore their implications for the agency of different actors, particularly those who are most affected by climate change impacts.