Institutionalizing Locally Led Adaptation in South Asia

The Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) and DanChurchAid (DCA) will organize a regional practitioner consultation on challenges, opportunities, and best practices for scaling up locally led adaptation (LLA) in South Asia on 12-14 February 2025 in Kathmandu, Nepal. The meeting with be hosted by the Ministry of Forests and Environment, Nepal.

The workshop will focus on regional climate vulnerabilities, locally led adaptation initiatives in key vulnerable sectors in the region, including food security, water resources management, urban development, infrastructure and climate finance. It will bring together LLA practitioners as well government and private sector representatives from the region, working on locally led initiatives across these key sectors. 

Event description

BACKGROUND  
South Asia is among the most climate vulnerable regions in the world due to a combination of geophysical and socioeconomic factors. Geophysical factors include a heavy dependence on an extremely climate-sensitive monsoon weather system, a large coastline, fragile mountain and riverine systems, and hot and cold temperature extremes that are already challenging for human well-being. Socioeconomic factors include a high population density, high levels of poverty,  and inequality, rapid urbanization and industrialization (often concentrated along vulnerable coastlines), and a high dependence on agriculture and natural resources for livelihoods.  

The region is home to 29% of the global population living in extreme poverty. 216 million of the world’s 736 million extreme poor live in South Asia and suffer the worst impacts of climate change because of their higher susceptibility and lower adaptative capacity. Climate change could cause this figure to rise by as much as 35.7 million.

However, these communities and individuals are not just victims of climate change.   
Decades of experience and learning in the development and environment sectors have shown that when enabled and empowered, they are very effective leaders in finding and implementing solutions to address local challenges. Their “integrated” understanding of their own needs and priorities, combined with local knowledge (including of social and political norms), puts them in a unique position for tailoring locally-appropriate, innovative, effective, and sustainable solutions. What they lack, most often, are the enablers of that leadership and action – including, but not limited to, enabling policies and governance structures; devolved, adequate and flexible finance; human, institutional and technical capacity; and downward accountability.
   
South Asian countries have a strong history of supporting locally led action, and now, locally led adaptation (LLA). Bangladesh was one of the first countries in the world to set up a national climate fund – the Bangladesh Climate Change Trust Fund – resourced from national budgetary sources to fund activities on the ground. Nepal pioneered Local Adaptation Plans of Action (LAPAs). The region has also been on the forefront of embedding adaptation in successful locally led action in previous decades, including in key climate vulnerable sectors such as poverty reduction, food security and natural resource management. While this work has benefited from an existing foundation of strong civil society and grassroots organizations, with a long and rich history of promoting devolved and community-based action, scaling up and institutionalizing LLA continues to be a challenge. 

GCA’s LOCALLY LED ADAPTATION PROGRAM 
The Global Center on Adaptation’s (GCA’s) Global Hub on Locally Led Adaptation was launched in December 2022, to promote LLA at scale, with speed, to reduce climate risks for populations and sections of society that are most vulnerable to climate change. The activities of the Hub are guided by the eight Principles for Locally Led Adaptation, endorsed by the Global Commission on Adaptation.  

In addition to knowledge sharing, peer to peer learning and capacity strengthening, the Global Hub on LLA supports the development of People’s Adaptation Plans to inform project design and investments by International Financial Institutions (IFIs), as part of the GCA’s Adaptation Acceleration Program. The Hub is currently supporting People’s Adaptation Plans in eight secondary cities in Bangladesh; and in multiple countries in Africa. These Plans are produced by vulnerable communities with facilitation by local civil society organizations to inform investments by the IFI projects.  
 
For instance, in Bangladesh, People’s Adaptation Plans are linked to projects by the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank. Investments identified by the communities in the Plans will inform the investments made by the Projects. 
LLA is integrated across the GCA’s other Programs, which include Food Security, Infrastructure and Nature Based Solutions, Water and Urban, and Youth Education and Adaptation Jobs.  

EXPECTED OUTCOMES  

• Increased understanding of existing policy, practice, institutional and financial responses in the region to support locally led adaptation, and of future needs. 
• Opportunities for partnerships and collaboration. 
• Introduction to the GCA’s Global Hub on LLA, and exploration of further avenues to tailor it to needs of LLA practitioners. 
• Knowledge products, including stories for the Global Hub on LLA and contributions for Stories of Resilience.