The 2016 Local Climate Adaptive Living Facility (LoCAL) Programme Board Meeting took place this past week, from April 12th to 13th, at One UN New York Hotel. The meeting gave board members 11 countries the opportunity to review LoCAL’s progress and accomplishments and  highlighting new goals for the upcoming year.

Going forward, the board emphasized the importance role of the local government in LDCs to increase resilience to climate change impact. There for LoCAL will continue to support and facilitate local government access to climate finance by continuing to provide a mechanism to implement the climate change adaptation activities. This will also support LDC in implementing the Paris Agreement which strongly emphasizes the role of Sub-National Government in its implementation.

One of the steps to be taken is to work towards LoCAL being recognized as a standard country-based mechanism for Least Developed Countries to access the Green Climate Fund Direct Access. The experiences from Bhutan and Cambodia, already in Phase III of the programme, demonstrate the effectiveness of the LoCAL mechanism in channeling climate finance to subnational government. Representatives from Cambodia and Bhutan gave presentations outlining their pathways to success. Given the specific environmental and geographical challenges that each region can present, these presentations revealed how the LoCAL mechanism can be dynamic and adaptive, particularly in least developed countries.

UNCDF Executive Secretary, Judith Karl, explained: “I am happy to see how vital and dynamic [LoCAL] has become and continues to be. It's more than an experiment; it's becoming a new way of working and creating partnerships and recognizing the role of local governments [in increasing resilience]."

LoCAL also announced key partnerships with two leaders in their fields: WRI and KEI. With their additional expertise in monitoring and evaluation and climate science, LoCAL’s mechanism will be further strengthened. Moreover, Representatives from the European Union (EU), the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and partner countries, such as Sweden and Belgium, made statements at the board meeting expressing support for LoCAL’s continued work.

President and CEO of KEI, Mr. Park, Kwang Kook, said: “It is a big moment for KEI to become a strong partner in the LoCAL programme with this agreement. KEI has made numerous ways to support developing countries, but this agreement is absolutely phenomenal. UNCDF [has] currently devoted a lot of effort into local governments through the LoCAL programme. KEI will make every resources available [to support] LoCAL in the future.”  

Concluding the meeting, co-chair of the LoCAL Board, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the UN, Mr. Masud Bin Momen, affirmed the board’s decisions and offered his congratulations to the board and its partners.