Putting local communities at the heart of decision-making and finance to build climate resilience

Locally led adaptation is critical for climate adaptation and resilience

Local communities are on the frontlines of climate change impacts, yet rarely do they have a voice in the decisions that affect them. Climate change is set to push 130 million more people below the poverty line by 2030 and less than $1 in every $10 of global climate finance is dedicated to local level action at present. Governments are failing to get money to where it is needed most.

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View the AAC Locally Led Adaptation Workstream IPCC Factsheet

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Local communities are often best placed to identify the climate solutions that they need and should have the power to influence decision-making and resource allocation to ensure that investments reflect their priorities. We need to shift the status quo from current top-down approaches to a new model where local actors have the power and resources to build climate resilience.

Locally led adaptation initiatives to deliver a climate resilient world

The AAC Locally Led Adaptation (LLA) Workstream focused on bringing community-based solutions to the attention of governments and mainstream local knowledge and expertise in climate discussions and finance. The LLA Workstream was coordinated by World Resources Institute and the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) in collaboration with Centro para la Autonomía y Desarollo de los Pueblos Indígenas (CADPI), the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI), ENDA, Huairou Commission, the International Institute for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD), Save the Children Australia, Slum Dwellers International (SDI), and SouthSouthNorth.

Launched at the 2021 Climate Adaptation Summit, the Global Commission on Adaptation set out eight principles for strengthening locally led action. These principles serve as a guide for changing top-down approaches to a model that redresses power imbalances and ensures local communities and organizations can decide how climate finance is used.

Over 75 organizations and several governments have endorsed the principles, committing to strengthening locally led solutions. The United Kingdom, Nepal, Costa Rica, Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands and the United States are among the governments who have endorsed the principles.

The LLA workstream focused on how to leverage these principles to secure finance at a greater scope and volume, to reach local actors and support local priorities. They organized regional dialogues to showcase locally led adaptation and allow state and non-state actors as well as organizations to learn from each other. Recordings of the regional dialogues are available online.

The LLA Community of Practice (CoP) also falls under the AAC’s LLA Workstream. The LLA CoP included over 75 organizations and supported international coordination and knowledge exchange on locally led adaptation action.

Locally Led Adaptation Champions

Governments around the world are increasingly recognizing the importance of supporting locally led adaptation in their countries. Here are a few examples:

Nepal

The Local Adaptation Plans of Actions (LAPA) in Nepal is a community-led, multi-stakeholder climate action planning process that puts communities and local governments at the center of local adaptation planning. The LAPA initiatives assist local governments and communities in driving collective climate action.

Kenya

Kenya’s County Climate Change Funds Fund is a mechanism through which counties can create, access, and use climate finance from different sources to build community resilience through projects identified and prioritized by local communities.

Partners:

Funders:

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Countries involved in the workstream:

  • Costa Rica
  • Denmark
  • Nepal
  • The Netherlands
  • United States of America
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Cover image credit: UNDP Climate Flickr

 

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