LoCAL strengthens climate change–resilience in communities and economies by increasing financing for, and investment in, climate change adaptation at the local level in developing least developed countries (LDCs).

Integrating climate change adaptation into government planning and budgeting systems

LoCAL supports local governments in mainstreaming climate change adaptation into regular decision-making processes, development planning and resource allocation through performance-based climate resilience grants.

The LoCAL Secretariat, based in UNCDF headquarters and regional offices, provides technical advice, in-country support and seed capital or initial financing for performance-based climate resilience grants to prove concept and lay the groundwork for scaling up with governments’ own fiscal resources and other sources of climate finance.

Elevated grounds in Borei Chulsa, Takeo, Cambodia © LoCAL-UNCDF/Cedric Jancloes

LoCAL works directly with national partners, who are responsible for the operation and management of the LoCAL programme in each country through its various phases:

Design Phase. A formal expression of interest from a prospective LoCAL country launches a preliminary analysis of entry points.

Phase I: Piloting. The first phase involves initial scoping, followed by testing in two to four local governments. Countries in Phase I include Bangladesh, Ghana, Lao PDR, Mali, Mozambique, Nepal, Niger and Tuvalu (Pacific).

Phase II: Learning. The second phase takes place in 5–10 percent of the local governments of a country. It involves collecting lessons and demonstrating the effectiveness of the mechanism at a larger scale. Countries in Phase II include Bhutan, Cambodia and Benin; Bangladesh, Lao PDR and Mali are preparing for Phase II.

Phase III: Scaling-up. The third phase is a full national roll-out of LoCAL based on the results and lessons of the previous phases. LoCAL is gradually extended to all local governments, with domestic or international climate finance, and becomes the national system for channelling adaptation finance to the local level. Bhutan and Cambodia are preparing for Phase III

Increasing awareness of and response to climate change at the local level

LoCAL aims to demonstrate to participating countries — as well as to a wider audience — the effectiveness and efficiency of local government investment in climate change adaptation and resilience. As LoCAL expands, it is critical to collect and document experiences, lessons learned, and good practices; to raise awareness; to build a common understanding of the approach; and to share experiences with existing and new participating countries, development partners and the international community at large. Opportunities for learning and distilling lessons for the benefit of participating countries, partners and other interested stakeholders exist at every stage of the LoCAL approach.

Project selection workshop in Buli, Zhemgang, Bhutan. © LoCAL-UNCDF/Cedric Jancloes

LoCAL continues to strengthen its efforts in knowledge management and communication. It collects and disseminates lessons learned and best practices so as to raise awareness of participating countries, as well as a wider audience, on how LoCAL best provides a low-overhead, effective way to strengthen local adaptation and resilience. This work includes sharing information through its website, videos, social media and other multimedia tools, and through country and thematic briefs; as well as reaching out to various communities of practice

LoCAL will also build a database of adaptation measures on the ground that clusters information by country, ecosystem, sector, adaptation challenge and type of investment, among others. The database will be used for experience sharing and reporting to the LoCAL Board and partners.

LoCAL is also working on impact monitoring and evaluation of the programme, through quality assurance of the annual assessment process to guarantee that it meets appropriate standards, and longer-term impact measurement. LoCAL will undertake in-depth monitoring and evaluation exercises on how the climate change adaptation actions financed through performance-based climate resilience grants are leading to verifiable and meaningful increases in resilience to climate change.

Increasing the amount of finance available to local governments for climate change adaptation

A global standard for local governments

The LoCAL facility provides technical assistance and tools for the LDCs to access global climate funds.

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Local Climate Adaptive Living Facility (LoCAL)

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