How Adaptation Moved From Vision to Delivery in 2025 

I n 2025, the climate crisis intensified, but so did global resolve. Across continents, communities faced escalating heat, shifting seasons, rising seas, and record-breaking storms. Yet this was also the year adaptation moved decisively from ambition to implementation. For the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA), it was a year defined by scale: scaling political momentum, scaling finance and scaling local, practical solutions that protect lives and secure economies. 

From Africa to Asia to the Pacific, 2025 showed what becomes possible when science, policy, and finance come together behind a single mission: building resilient economies that can withstand a rapidly changing climate. 

Strengthening Global Leadership on Adaptation 
GCA’s diplomatic and leadership engagements set the tone for a pivotal year. In April, ambassadors and senior representatives from 50 nations gathered in Rotterdam for the inaugural Ambassadors’ Forum—an unprecedented show of unity around the adaptation agenda. The event called for countries to accelerate climate-resilient economic growth and underscored adaptation as essential to global financial stability, food security, and social cohesion. 

Months later, at the 2nd Africa Climate Summit, President William Ruto of the Republic of Kenya, as Chair of Committee of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change (CAHOSCC), called for a powerful new phase of the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (“AAAP 2.0”), urging international partners to step forward in support of Africa’s resilience agenda. 

On the sidelines of the 80th UN General Assembly, GCA convened its flagship Leaders’ Dialogue on Global Climate Adaptation Action. Co-chaired by the Chair of the GCA Board President Macky Sall and former UN Secretary-General and Honorary Chair Ban Ki-moon, the meeting brought together heads of state, ministers, development banks and private-sector partners at a decisive moment ahead of COP30. Leaders reaffirmed that no country can confront the climate crisis alone and emphasized GCA’s essential role in connecting science, policy, and finance. 

Throughout the year, GCA’s Advisory Board also continued to expand with new leaders from the Marshall Islands, Norway, Denmark, Ghana, Botswana, Guinea-Bissau, and Zambia. Their voices strengthened GCA’s global reach and ensured representation from the world’s most climate-exposed regions. 

Driving Food Security and Rural Well-Being 
Agriculture remained one of the most vulnerable and most vital  frontlines of climate change. Through the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP), GCA helped shape billions of dollars in investment to support resilient food systems. 

In Togo, GCA partnered with the World Bank on the US$300 million Sustainable Agricultural Transformation Program, conducting climate vulnerability assessments for rice, maize and soybeans; identifying resilient crop varieties; and developing training manuals for policymakers, extension officers, and farmers. The Ministry of Agriculture called the technical assistance “more valuable than previously conducted feasibility studies,” and has requested continued support to design a national index-based insurance mechanism. 

Similarly, in Angola, GCA’s technical analysis helped mainstream climate adaptation across the Eastern Region Agricultural Value Chain Development Project, supporting resilient crop production, agribusiness development, and private-sector engagement across the country’s agricultural heartland. Stakeholders emphasized that GCA’s work significantly enhanced the value and relevance of the project. 

These partnerships reflect a growing recognition across Africa: climate-smart agriculture is not only an environmental necessity—it is a strategy for economic transformation. 

Building Climate-Resilient Infrastructure 
In 2025, GCA deepened its role as a global leader in climate-resilient infrastructure design with major progress in some of the world’s most climate-vulnerable regions. 

In Bangladesh, GCA’s multi-year collaboration with the Coastal Towns Climate Resilience Project reached a milestone as LGED—the country’s central engineering and urban development authority formally integrated GCA’s climate-risk data, hazard assessments, and Nature-based Solutions recommendations into new town masterplanning manuals. This marks a national-level shift: future infrastructure will now be designed for tomorrow’s climate reality, not yesterday’s. 

GCA also strengthened capacity across government institutions, training engineers, planners, and municipal officials to design climate-resilient urban systems for the 35 million people living along Bangladesh’s vulnerable coastline. 

Local Leadership and Community-Led Adaptation 
Adaptation succeeds when local communities drive the solutions. This year, GCA elevated local leadership through new research, awards, and community partnerships. 

The 2025 Stories of Resilience report spotlighted real-world lessons from local adaptation practice, capturing innovations rooted in community knowledge and local governance. At the Local Adaptation Champions Awards, GCA celebrated initiatives from across the Global South that demonstrated how locally led solutions can transform lives and strengthen resilience. 

In Homa Bay, Kenya, GCA commended county leadership for integrating the People’s Adaptation Plan into official county planning—setting a new benchmark for participatory adaptation governance. These achievements reflected a wider shift: local actors are no longer “beneficiaries.” They are co-designers and co-leaders of the adaptation agenda. 

Elevating Adaptation Finance and Economic Resilience 
2025 marked a breakthrough year for the adaptation finance agenda. GCA launched the inaugural Resilient Economies Index, a comprehensive assessment of the resilience of 54 African economies based on economic, policy, and financial indicators. The Index—and its interactive online portal—equips governments, investors, and development partners with the data needed to direct finance where it can deliver the greatest impact. 
 
At COP30, GCA secured concrete outcomes for the AAAP, including its inclusion under Axis 6 of the COP30 Outcome Report and its designation as a Cooperative Climate Initiative under the UNFCCC NAZCA Portal—cementing AAAP’s place as a global model for adaptation partnerships. 
 
GCA also continued its influential adaptation-finance masterclasses and partnership development, helping governments, banks, and investors scale investments in resilience. 
 
Youth Driving Adaptation Action Across Africa and Beyond 
Young people were one of the most powerful forces behind adaptation this year. In October, the Youth Jobs & Entrepreneurship program completed five In-Country YouthADAPT Demo Days across Africa, giving nearly 60 entrepreneurs a platform to pitch climate innovations to banks, investors, and policymakers. The events received major media coverage and culminated in the selection of ten winners who will each receive US$30,000 and technical support to grow their enterprises. 

GCA also advanced adaptation-focused skills development across the continent. In Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Morocco, Senegal, Somalia, and Tunisia, new climate-adaptation curricula were finalized for youth, entrepreneurs, and vocational learners—laying the foundation for a future workforce capable of driving resilient economic growth. 

Meanwhile, Youth Climate Adaptation Action Day mobilized young people in 90 countries, reaching over 31 million people on social media and demonstrating unprecedented global engagement on NDCs, NAPs, and youth leadership in adaptation. 

At the Pan-African Youth Academy, 50 young leaders from 46 African countries came together for training in climate-adaptation leadership, with 15 countries later receiving grants to replicate the training locally—deepening impact across the continent. 

Looking Ahead: Delivering Adaptation at Scale 
The year closed with growing political momentum, major financial commitments, and new technical innovations that expanded the reach of adaptation solutions. With AAAP 2.0 set to accelerate implementation and with growing demand from governments seeking support for resilient food systems, urban infrastructure, and youth-led innovation, 2026 begins with a clear mandate: move faster, scale deeper, and bring adaptation to every community that needs it. If 2025 showed us anything, it is this: resilience is not an abstract concept. It is a choice—built day by day, investment by investment, community by community. And the world is choosing it. 

The ideas presented in this article aim to inspire adaptation action – they are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Global Center on Adaptation.

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