2023 GCA Local Adaptation Champions Awards Ceremony

At COP28, the 2023 Local Adaptation Champions Awards Ceremony shone the spotlight on the efforts of local adaptation practitioners in four categories: Women in Leadership, Capacity Building, Business Adaptation Solutions, and Innovation in Devolving Finance

In December 2022, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh. H.E. Sheikh Hasina, inaugurated GCA’s Global Hub on Locally Led Adaptation (LLA), which aims to promote LLA at scale and 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, launched at the 2021 Climate Adaptation Summit.

The GCA initiated the Local Adaptation Champions Awards in 2022 as part of the activities of the Global Hub on LLA, to reward and spotlight innovative, exemplary, inspiring, and scalable locally-led efforts that address the impacts of climate change, and build effective climate resilience among the most vulnerable communities, sections of society, and individuals who are at the frontlines of the greatest existential threat faced by humankind.

The Awards aim to:

• Recognize the critical contribution of locally-led adaptation and resilience building.
• Identify best practices and learn from locally-led efforts.
• Nurture and support replication/scaling up of successful and innovative LLA efforts, by creating opportunities for peer-to-peer sharing of knowledge, learning, and experiences across borders; identifying opportunities for scaling up; and brokering partnerships.
• Contribute to ongoing LLA efforts through cash awards.

In 2023, the LAC Awards recognized the efforts of local adaptation practitioners in four categories: Women in Leadership; Capacity Building; Business Adaptation Solutions; and Innovation in Devolving Finance.

Over 530 applications were received for the Awards in 2023. The winners in each category were shortlisted by a team of global experts, and a shortlist of 20 nominees was put forward to a Technical Advisory Group (TAG). Eight applications were shortlisted by the TAG, based on 15 criteria. These criteria assessed each applicant’s reach and impact, replicability, devolution of decision-making and financial devolution, partnerships, gender, and social inclusion. All shortlisted applicants were requested to provide additional details where necessary and evidence or documentation supporting their claims.  

The four winners were selected from the eight shortlisted applicants in November 2023, by a high-level Jury consisting of: 

• H.E. Ban Ki-moon, Chair of the Executive Board of the Global Center on Adaptation, and 8th Secretary-General of the United Nations
• H.E. Mariam bint Mohammed Saeed Hareb Almheiri, Minister of Climate Change and Environment, United Arab Emirates
• H.E. Andrew Mitchell, Minister of State (Development and Africa), Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office, UK
• H.E. Soipan Tuya, Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Forestry, Kenya
• H.E. A.K. Abdul Momen, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bangladesh
• H.E. Dan Jørgensen, Minister for Development Cooperation and Global Climate Policy, Denmark
• Prof. Dr. Patrick V. Verkooijen​, CEO of the Global Center on Adaptation​

The winners will receive a cash prize of €15,000 to expand their Award-winning work, in keeping with the LLA Principle of devolving decision-making to the lowest appropriate level. Winners will also be sponsored by the Adaptation Fund to participate in prominent speaking engagements at upcoming Adaptation Fund readiness events.

The winners of GCA’s 2023 Local Adaptation Champions Awards were announced on 5 December 2023 at the Awards Ceremony, which taook place during COP28.