Analysis by the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) highlights that only 19% of climate finance mobilized in 2017 went to projects that helped communities adapt to climate change, and from that amount a smaller percentage goes to LDCs. The LoCAL mechanism designed by UNCDF offers a great way to help fill this gap, with a focus on LDCs, SIDS and African States.

The Local Climate Adaptive Living (LoCAL) facility provides as standard and internationally recognized country-based mechanism owned by the participating countries as one way address this disbalance through a proven third party verified mechanism. Fully scalable within and across countries, LoCAL addresses the issue in a systemic manner bringing climate finance to the poorest countries and their most remote areas and populations, leaving no one behind.

LoCAL promotes climate change–resilient communities and local economies through a standard, internationally recognized country-based mechanism that channel climate finance to local government authorities in least developed countries (LDCs). It thus aims to contribute through the subnational level to country achievement of the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals – particularly poverty eradication (SDG 1), sustainable cities and communities (SDG 11) and climate action (SDG 13).

LoCAL increases climate change awareness and capacities, accompanies local governments in integrating climate change adaptation into their planning and budgeting through performance-based climate resilience grants (PBCRGs) – which ensure the quality of the local authorities’ governance.

The LoCAL experience with performance-based climate resilience grants was adopted as supplementary material to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s National Adaptation Plan Technical Guidelines in 2019.

This training workshop, the first of series, will offer participants a comprehensive overview of the LoCAL mechanism , from performance based climet resilience grants and annual performance assessments, to climate risks assessments and recent experience with the Korean Environment Institute in Africa as well as the “Assessing climate change adaptation framework”, a monitoring and evaluation framework developed with the World Resource Institute to ensure the adaptation additionality of the mechanism and investments that follow. It will discuss examples and will offer a platform for participants to share their experience implementing the various phases of the mechanism, from piloting to national scale ups.

UNCDF makes public and private finance work for the poor in the world’s 47 least developed countries. With its capital mandate and instruments, UNCDF offers “last mile” finance models that unlock public and private resources, especially at the domestic level, to reduce poverty and support local economic development. UNCDF’s financing models work through two channels: financial inclusion that expands the opportunities for individuals, households, and small businesses to participate in the local economy, providing them with the tools they need to climb out of poverty and manage their financial lives; and by showing how localized investments — through fiscal decentralization, innovative municipal finance, and structured project finance — can drive public and private funding that underpins local economic expansion and sustainable development. By strengthening how finance works for poor people at the household, small enterprise, and local infrastructure levels, UNCDF contributes to SDG 1 on eradicating poverty and SDG 17 on the means of implementation. By identifying those market segments where innovative financing models can have transformational impact in helping to reach the last mile and address exclusion and inequalities of access, UNCDF contributes to a number of different SDGs.

OECD article available on climate change news