2025 LOCAL
ADAPTATION
CHAMPIONS AWARDS

This category honors locally designed, community-led initiatives that use nature-based solutions to protect critical local infrastructure—such as water, energy, and transport systems—especially those vital to everyday life. Proposed solutions must be community-owned and managed, strengthen ecosystem services, and deliver climate resilience while respecting local governance and knowledge systems.

We invite applications from women-led groups, non-governmental organizations (local, national, and international), universities, research institutes, think tanks, governments, and entrepreneurship support organizations.

This category recognizes community-led initiatives that enhance women’s entrepreneurship, economic empowerment and resilience in the face of climate change. Eligible entries should demonstrate how they improve access to climate-resilient jobs, finance, skills, markets, and assets for women—particularly those from marginalized and disadvantaged groups. Initiatives must also actively challenge discriminatory norms and structural barriers that undermine women’s well-being before, during, and after climate-related shocks and stressors.

We invite applications from women-led groups, non-governmental organizations (local, national, and international), universities, research institutes, think tanks, governments, and entrepreneurship support organizations.

This category celebrates community-driven research initiatives that are needs-based, solutions-oriented, and have measurable impact on climate-vulnerable populations. Strong entries engage local people as equal partners in designing and conducting research, incorporate traditional and local knowledge, and generate practical outcomes that inform local planning, decision-making, or adaptation actions. Emphasis is placed on bottom-up approaches that depart from traditional, top-down research models.

We invite applications from women-led groups, non-governmental organizations (local, national, and international), universities, research institutes, think tanks, governments, and entrepreneurship support organizations.

This category recognizes locally led initiatives that strengthen community health and psychosocial resilience in response to climate-related stressors by (1) enhancing people’s agency and coping mechanisms for dealing with slow-onset or compounding climate impacts; or (2) improving equitable access to health services, particularly for women, youth, persons with disabilities, displaced populations, indigenous peoples, and marginalized ethnic groups during and after climate shocks.

We invite applications from micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) with core business models focused on local climate adaptation initiatives, women-led businesses, tech and non-tech enterprises, locally grown corporates or organizations promoting local climate adaptation along supply chains.