This talk delves into the revolutionary impact of data on reshaping urban landscapes and improving lives.

A national workshop on urban flooding in India highlights the imperative of inclusive policies for flood resistance, and the engagement of communities for formulating guidelines and for resource distribution.

In Kenya, Mombasa County, located 485 kilometers from Nairobi, is regularly the target of extreme weather events, particularly floods, which destroy infrastructure and people’s livelihoods. As a result, the municipality has just launched the “City Local Adaptation Booster (LAB)” initiative

Communities play a critical role in REDD+, a forest conservation strategy that aims to reduce emissions that can be sold as credits to raise money for forest protection. REDD+ projects often include components for the benefit of the communities, such as a focus on alternative livelihoods and provision of health care and education. While some Indigenous-led organizations support REDD+ because it provides an avenue to fund their climate-related conservation work, other groups say it’s not the answer.

Every year, US$30 billion is spent on climate adaptation by the global community. However, this only represents a mere 10% of the approximate $387 billion required annually, with only a small portion of the funding actually reaching locally led initiatives.

Tanzania piloted the Decentralized Climate Finance mechanism in Monduli, Longido and Ngorongoro districts between 2016 and 2018. The pilot has generated several useful lessons for those wishing to establish similar mechanisms and for local-level climate adaptation investments in general.

In northern Tanzania, the Pastoral Women’s Council (PWC) enhances indigenous pastoralist women’s leadership capabilities to build women’s capacity to achieve equality as decision-makers in pastoralist societies. In recognition of their efforts, PWC has been awarded the 2023 GCA Local Adaptation Champions Award under the Women in Leadership Category.

The 2023 Local Adaptation Champions Awards recognized four innovative and scalable adaptation initiatives that could be used on the frontlines of the climate crisis.

Where roads and water intersect, trouble follows. Roads cut off streams and bleed sediment; meanwhile, floods often erode roadbeds into muddy gullies. In Kenya and in nearly 20 countries around the world, "green roads" are repositioning roads as environmental assets instead of liabilities: they use embankments, channels, and dikes to control floods, harvest excess water for use in irrigation, and slash maintenance costs. In the Ethiopian state of Tigray, for instance, green road techniques raised the water table and improved the productivity of adjacent farms by 35 percent.

An event on Local Governments, Global Stocktake, organized by the GCA at the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28), brought together government and non-government representatives to discuss the extent to which they are prepared to take on the challenge of transformative adaptation and the support they need to make this happen.

The four winners of the 2023 Local Adaptation Champions Awards, organized by the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA), were announced at an awards ceremony at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai. Winners featured four innovative and scalable adaptation initiatives working on the frontlines of the climate crisis.

Bangladesh has secured the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) Locally Led Adaptation (LLA) championship Award in the category of Innovation in Developing Finance during the ongoing climate conference, COP28 in Dubai, UAE. The Award aims to spotlight locally-led projects addressing climate change.

The winners of the 2023 Local Adaptation Champions (LAC) Awards presented their work and experience on the sidelines of the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28). The Awards recognized the efforts of local adaptation practitioners in four categories: Women in Leadership; Capacity Building; Business Adaptation Solutions; and Innovation in Devolving Finance.

The four winners of the 2023 Local Adaptation Champions Awards, organized by GCA, were announced at an awards ceremony at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai. Winners featured four innovative and scalable adaptation initiatives working on the frontlines of the climate crisis.

La iniciativa “Adaptación al cambio climático a escala local en comunidades indígenas de alta vulnerabilidad en Oaxaca, México” presentada por Espacio de Encuentro de las Culturas Originarias A.C. (EECO), ante el Centro de Adaptación Local (GCA por sus siglas en inglés), para postularse al premio Liderazgo en Adaptación Local 2023, en la categoría de Desarrollo de Capacidades, resultó GANADORA. Por primera vez un país de América ha sido galardonado con este prestigiado premio, el año pasado se entregó a países de Asia y África.

La oenegé Espacio de Encuentro de la Culturas Originarias lleva un lustro enseñando a crear nuevas capacidades a los campesinos mexicanos para afrontar el cambio climático

In India, Aumsat Technologies LLP has innovatively harnessed satellite-based radar analytics to address the pressing issue of water scarcity exacerbated by climate change.

GCA launched the 2023 edition of Stories of Resilience: Lessons from Local Adaptation Practice at an event in the Resilience Hub, during the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) in Dubai, UAE. Event discussions centered on showcasing perspectives from local actors on what it means for them to engage in global discussions and events, and how best they can be supported to amplify their own voices and influence global discourse on ambitious, inclusive and transformative adaptation and resilience action at the local level.

Research by BBC Media Action in Bangladesh in 2023 revealed that adaptation efforts by communities and individuals are often not reported or communicated.  Media coverage is mainly focused on climate disasters and the international climate negotiations. In 2023, GCA teamed up with BBC Media Action to train journalists on reporting local efforts by communities to tackle the impacts of climate change.

In this year's Stories of Resilience, we bring you a crucial message from communities implementing adaptation on the ground: global and national systems are not changing fast enough in response to urgent local adaptation needs. Global and national policy makers and providers of adaptation finance "must do better" to activate transformational adaptation by creating the right enabling environments. According to the IPCC, this includes alignment of  government and non-government objectives; strong bottom-up governance; social learning; phased long-term program support; and appropriate financing.

Starting in 2020, the Nairobi city government began implementing a community-driven, multisectoral upgrading plan. The plan was the product of an ambitious two-year process known as the Mukuru Special Planning Area or SPA. While the Covid-19 pandemic has delayed official ratification of the upgrading plan, the Nairobi city government and Nairobi Metropolitan Services have already built roads, storm drains, several hospitals, a school, and a pilot water and sanitation project. Ongoing implementation efforts provide opportunities and pose several challenges.

The Global Center on Adaptation (GCA), in collaboration with the United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLGA) and Akiba Mashinani Trust (AMT), supported representatives from Nairobi to visit Homa Bay to present the Mukuru approach for locally led planning in informal settlements. Subsequently, a delegation from Homa Bay visited Mukuru to get a better understanding of the process.

Mukuru residents worked with the local government to plan crucial infrastructure investments to improve their health, safety and dignity. The SPA is an example of a true “co-planning” process. Work was undertaken together by government, residents and their civil society partners. This empowered residents to make planning decisions that have improved their resilience to climate change.

The world has lost one of the intellectual architects of what we now call Locally Led Adaptation, says GCA CEO Prof. Dr. Patrick Verkooijen, in his tribute to Dr. Saleemul Huq.

The Educational Partnerships for Innovation in Communities (EPIC), which has been implemented by universities worldwide, is a transformative approach to prepare students for the workforce, advance scholarships for researchers and make meaningful contributions to communities through engagement with, and empowerment of, local community members.