A study of six locally-led adaptation (LLA) water-related projects in Kenya and Tanzania indicate how donors, government and civil society actors can support the implementation of LLA approaches.

Limited knowledge exists on the real-world experiences and outcomes from applying the Principles for Locally Led Adaptation in practice, especially in relation to water which is critical in climate change adaptation. Progress and lessons learned from water adaptation initiatives in East Africa’s drylands are examined to assess the alignment of water adaptation projects with these principles.

The way we talk about climate change influences how people understand the message and what actions they might take. Effective communication strategies for inspiring audience action are examined.

On the International Day of Forests, we highlight why empowering communities to safeguard forests is a win-win for communities and climate change.

While the effects of climate change are experienced globally, climate risks and impacts felt at the local level can vary from place to place, based on geographic and biophysical characteristics of the area. Local governments, with their firsthand experience of climate impacts, are well-placed to address climate change effects by tailoring solutions to local needs. Nonetheless,  their adaptation needs often exceed local planning, technical and fiscal capacities. Cooperation is therefore necessary across levels of government to foster climate change adaptation at the local level.

Biochar, a form of charcoal used to lock up carbon and fertilize soils, offers a promising solutions to air pollution and health issues caused by slash-and-burn agriculture. The Older People’s Clubs (OPCs) in Chiang Mai, Thailand, is producing biochar as a way of addressing these environmental and health-related issues. For OPCs, biochar is a way to manage green waste, transfer knowledge to younger farmers, and tackle air pollution in Chiang Mai, while creating opportunities for additional income.

Many development and climate resilience interventions promote small water infrastructures (SWIs) to combat drought in Africa. While SWIs can help overcome water shortages in the short term, they can also erode traditional adaptation practices and limit long-term resilience of pastoral communities.

This publication calls for civil society organizations in Bangladesh to work together to overcome challenges related to the lack of research and data on urban climate resilience; tools and indicators to measure urban resilience; funding for municipalities to invest in climate resilience; public services in slums; coordination between government organizations and agencies; and institutional arrangements for community participation in resilience building efforts.

Climate funds can help governments to integrate and mainstream climate risks into national social protection policies and programs. Such support, argue the authors, is not only a moral imperative but also a strategic approach for building resilience, reducing poverty, and ensuring that the most vulnerable communities are not left behind in the face of climate change.

This ADB publication discusses how decentralized governance provides opportunities to improve delivery of public goods and services needed for resilience building and give poor and vulnerable people a voice in identifying and implementing adaptation measures. 

This book explores the dynamics of equitable research partnerships, providing practical recommendations to overcome obstacles and forge effective collaborations between academia and diverse communities.

To strengthen climate resilience of low-income communities, adaptation plans must address how heat impacts their lives and livelihoods.

This talk delves into the revolutionary impact of data on reshaping urban landscapes and improving lives.

Communities play a critical role in REDD+, a forest conservation strategy that aims to reduce emissions that can be sold as credits to raise money for forest protection. REDD+ projects often include components for the benefit of the communities, such as a focus on alternative livelihoods and provision of health care and education. While some Indigenous-led organizations support REDD+ because it provides an avenue to fund their climate-related conservation work, other groups say it’s not the answer.

Tanzania piloted the Decentralized Climate Finance mechanism in Monduli, Longido and Ngorongoro districts between 2016 and 2018. The pilot has generated several useful lessons for those wishing to establish similar mechanisms and for local-level climate adaptation investments in general.

Where roads and water intersect, trouble follows. Roads cut off streams and bleed sediment; meanwhile, floods often erode roadbeds into muddy gullies. In Kenya and in nearly 20 countries around the world, "green roads" are repositioning roads as environmental assets instead of liabilities: they use embankments, channels, and dikes to control floods, harvest excess water for use in irrigation, and slash maintenance costs. In the Ethiopian state of Tigray, for instance, green road techniques raised the water table and improved the productivity of adjacent farms by 35 percent.

Research by BBC Media Action in Bangladesh in 2023 revealed that adaptation efforts by communities and individuals are often not reported or communicated.  Media coverage is mainly focused on climate disasters and the international climate negotiations. In 2023, GCA teamed up with BBC Media Action to train journalists on reporting local efforts by communities to tackle the impacts of climate change.

In this year's Stories of Resilience, we bring you a crucial message from communities implementing adaptation on the ground: global and national systems are not changing fast enough in response to urgent local adaptation needs. Global and national policy makers and providers of adaptation finance "must do better" to activate transformational adaptation by creating the right enabling environments. According to the IPCC, this includes alignment of  government and non-government objectives; strong bottom-up governance; social learning; phased long-term program support; and appropriate financing.

Starting in 2020, the Nairobi city government began implementing a community-driven, multisectoral upgrading plan. The plan was the product of an ambitious two-year process known as the Mukuru Special Planning Area or SPA. While the Covid-19 pandemic has delayed official ratification of the upgrading plan, the Nairobi city government and Nairobi Metropolitan Services have already built roads, storm drains, several hospitals, a school, and a pilot water and sanitation project. Ongoing implementation efforts provide opportunities and pose several challenges.

Mukuru residents worked with the local government to plan crucial infrastructure investments to improve their health, safety and dignity. The SPA is an example of a true “co-planning” process. Work was undertaken together by government, residents and their civil society partners. This empowered residents to make planning decisions that have improved their resilience to climate change.

The Educational Partnerships for Innovation in Communities (EPIC), which has been implemented by universities worldwide, is a transformative approach to prepare students for the workforce, advance scholarships for researchers and make meaningful contributions to communities through engagement with, and empowerment of, local community members.

The eight Principles for Locally Led Adaptation, developed by the Global Commission on Adaptation, aim to empower and give communities on the frontlines of climate change a voice in decisions that directly affect their lives and livelihoods.

Heat waves are a silent killer, particularly in Indian cities, where they are responsible for more deaths than any other natural disaster. Between 2010 and 2022, 10,104 deaths were attributed to heat waves in India. In cities in South Asia, where temperatures are already high and rising due to climate change, heat stress is exacerbated by the urban heat island effect.

Safe and clean drinking water is becoming increasingly difficult to access in Bangladesh. Frequent and intense cyclones, storm surges, and sea-level rise, particularly in the coastal belt, result in water logging, and drive salinity further inland. The poorest and most vulnerable residents in the country are the most impacted as they have to choose between drinking contaminated water and getting sick, or walking several kilometers to get clean water while learning to make do with less.

The urban population in Malawi face cyclones, storm surges, heat stress, extreme precipitation, flooding, landslides, drought, and water scarcity with increasing regularity as climate change escalates. The country recently suffered greatly from the effects of the 2019 Cyclones Idai and Kenneth and the tropical Storm Ana and Cyclone Gombe in 2022. In the capital city of Lilongwe, where 76% of the urban population lives in informal settlements, the storms and cyclones caused tremendous damage – particularly in the informal settlements in the Kaliyeka, Mchesi, Kawale and Mtandire wards.