GCA intern Taylor Black discusses how possibilities for LLA to transform climate adaptation for the better are vast, but that realizing this vision requires dismantling entrenched barriers and fostering equitable collaboration.

IIED-América Latina was awarded a Global Center on Adaptation Local Adaptation Champions Award in the category of Urban Adaptation Solutions.

What are development partners, multilateral institutions, and national governments doing, to support LLA? How do communities in Latin America rate climate finance providers, on their performance on LLA? What are farmers in Cambodia and coral gardeners in St Lucia doing, to adapt to climate change?

Find out in the 2024 Stories of Resilience!

As the international community gathered in Azerbaijan for COP29, connected to the work of the Global Hub, the GCA COP29 Leaders Event “Global Champions for LLA” was the Global Center’s flagship event at the United Nations Climate Change Conference at Baku. It served as a celebration of the possibilities of adaptation action led by, and for, communities most affected by the climate crisis and included the presentation of the 2024 Local Adaptation Champion Awards.

Less than 5% of total public adaptation finance provided between 2016-2021 reached Least Developed Countries (LDCs). To rectify this, LDCs have signed a compact with development partners to spark a transformation in how LDCs finance, develop, deliver and learn from long term adaptation and resilience efforts.

Expanding LLA strategies by communities in Senegal, Nigeria and Ghana can play a major role in addressing the unique challenges posed by climate change on local communities. Experience across Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal demonstrate that communities have been adapting to the impacts of climate change, to varying degrees. But LLA strategies in west Africa face a number of stumbling blocks.

The Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) announced the 21 nominees for the 2024 Local Adaptation Champions Awards today. These prestigious awards, which spotlight groundbreaking and scalable locally led efforts, celebrate innovation in addressing the growing impacts of climate change while fostering resilience at the community level. The nominees have been selected in four categories: Water Security, Food Security, Local Entrepreneurship, and Urban Adaptation Solutions. This year the Global Center on Adaptation received a record 870 applications from organizations in 107 countries.

A one- size-fits-all approach to establishing heat safety thresholds won’t work. Instead, heat safety limits need to be evaluated for different socially vulnerable groups, such as neonates, infants, children, and pregnant and postpartum women.

The Global Center on Adaptation marked a significant milestone in climate adaptation, sustainable urban development, and green jobs with the inauguration of 12 Black Soldier Fly units in Mukuru, Nairobi . The initiative, undertaken with key global and local partners, is set to revolutionize waste management in one of Nairobi's largest informal settlements while providing employment opportunities for young people by equipping them with skills in sustainable agriculture, waste management, and business management.

Community initiatives are the starting point for transformative adaptation to ready our world for a changed climate, according to this study.

MSMEs, smallholder farmers and informal individual entrepreneurs are the most important private sector actors for truly locally led adaptation because they are already heavily invested in adapting to climate change impacts.

An Indian philanthropy is redefining the relationship between fund providers and recipients.

Climate knowledge is often built top-down, overlooking diverse experiences and expertise of women and marginalized communities. This needs to change.

During this session hosted by Micro Save Consulting, panelists explored the key challenges, opportunities, optimal solutions, and innovative approaches to ensure effective climate adaptation strategies in Africa.

GCA CEO’s Official Visit to Bangladesh Paves Way for Enhanced Collaborations for Climate Resilience.

Professor Patrick V. Verkooijen, CEO of the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA), visited Chattogram today to listen and learn from local communities who are leading in the preparation of People’s Adaptation Plans, aimed at improving climate resilience in the city’s informal settlements. The visit underscores the GCA’s commitment to supporting local leadership by vulnerable populations in their fight against climate change, and linking their priorities for resilience building to investments by international financial institutions.

Most community engagement methods fail to effectively integrate the voices of local communities. Here's how this can change.

Global warming is shifting rainfall patterns across South Asia, and each area will be affected differently — local approaches are needed to track and respond to these changes.

GCA's Global Lead on LLA, Anju Sharma, reflects on the first Community Based Adaptation Conference without colleague, friend, and pioneer of the CBA tradition, Saleemul Huq.

Experiences from the Local Climate Adaptive Living Facility (LoCAL) in Niger, Lesotho and Cambodia indicate that while the Facility is a powerful vehicle for engaging local governments in LLA efforts, local governments often mirror the power dynamics of higher levels of governments and have exclusionary politics, which the LoCAL mechanism alone cannot shift. Intensifying efforts to involve non-governmental entities could enhance community participation in planning and budgeting processes.

As we age, certain tasks get harder - like carrying heavy containers of water. But with age, they say, comes wisdom. In Shumar, a remote mountain community in south-eastern Bhutan, an isolated community of mostly older persons has used their years of experience in managing the impacts of climate change-related landslides to design a specially adapted water delivery system suspended from the branches of large trees.

Local communities bear the brunt of climate change-related disasters, made evident in three municipalities of Nepal (Aathbis, Panchadewal Binayak, and Barbardiya), where residents face challenges recovering from and responding to flooding, landslides and drought. As a result, residents often resort to loans for infrastructure reconstruction, while others relocate entirely.

Limited knowledge exists on the real-world experiences and outcomes from applying the Principles for Locally Led Adaptation in practice, especially in relation to water which is critical in climate change adaptation. Progress and lessons learned from water adaptation initiatives in East Africa’s drylands are examined to assess the alignment of water adaptation projects with these principles.

A study of six locally-led adaptation (LLA) water-related projects in Kenya and Tanzania indicate how donors, government and civil society actors can support the implementation of LLA approaches.

As cities aim to transition their buildings to include more green and sustainable sources of electricity, retrofitting – or installing – fossil fuel-based buildings with high-efficiency and clean electricity is crucial. However, one size does not fit all. Including historically disadvantaged communities in the design of retrofit programs helps to identify and incorporate the individual needs and priorities of each community.