Parallel session 12C: Subnational adaptation: experiences from the Local Climate Adaptive Living Facility (LoCAL) (UNCDF)

Moderator: Fakri Karim (UNCDF)

Synopsis: The negative impacts of climate change are disproportionately borne at the local level by the rural and urban poor in developing countries, where they exacerbate existing development challenges. Climate resilience interventions at the local level can address these most vulnerable populations in ways that are often more effective, efficient and sustainable, as local communities and actors are uniquely positioned to know their vulnerabilities and needs, and have a stake in the outcome of any adaptation intervention, enhancing the accountability of said interventions. Several studies have explored the factors that can improve the effectiveness of adaptation finance in reducing vulnerability – including strengthening transparency and responsiveness of donor funding, strengthening ownership and participation of local communities, building the capacity of local stakeholders and of local financial structures to manage finance and deliver adaptation results.

Nonetheless, there are lessons we have been failing to learn from mistakes of the past in planning and implementing adaptation projects at local level such as how to:

• Effectively involve communities and local level institutions in integrating/mainstreaming adaptation to climate change at sub-national levels and increasing ownership as an imperative for catalyzing transformation with climate finance;
• Ensure that the local governance system learns and remains on adaptive management mode for resilience building (a key governance issue especially in LDCs’ local territories); and
• Effectively engage all concerned stakeholders in ensuring that future investments are climate-proofed and avoid creating liabilities for future generations.

Sub-national governments are well-placed to address the issues above, but they are often overlooked, despite the fact that sub-national governments could be more effective in building synergies with other development issues that are climate change-sensitive, breaking silos and transforming negative tradeoffs into convergence.

The challenge, however, is societal and should be addressed holistically to succeed in building resilient local economies and communities. How, therefore, can we ignite local level movements or dynamics for societal transformation towards effective, adaptive and living governance systems in LDCs that will build and maintain effective resilience?

Topics:

• The benefits and barriers to channeling adaptation finance to the local level in  LDCs (Gebru Jember Endalew, Chair of the LDC Group, UNFCCC )
• The benefits and barriers to channeling adaptation finance to the local level in LDCs
• What approaches are being tested to ensure that adaptation finance responds to the needs of the most vulnerable, lesson learned from IFRC project (Tessa Kelly)
• Using climate finance for adaptation to catalyze the transformation of local governance systems towards resilience building: lessons learnt from the implementation of the LoCAL mechanism in Cambodia, presentation by (Sorn Sopheak, Cambodia)
• How to integrate climate change adaptation into Local Plans (PLAs) and policy, experiences and lessons Learned from Mozambique (Francisco Sambo, Mozambique)