Effectively addressing climate change requires paying attention to the local level. The Local Climate Adaptive Living Facility (LoCAL) mechanism of the United Nations Capital Development Fund provides performance-based climate resilience grants to local authorities in Least Developed Countries to finance adaptation interventions. This paper outlines insights and lessons learned from designing the Assessing Climate Change Adaptation Framework (ACCAF) that are relevant to a global audience. ACCAF was created by the World Resources Institute (WRI) to strenghten LoCAL. Donors, practitioners, and local authorities can use these lessons to inform future programming.