The world has lost one of the intellectual architects of what we now call Locally Led Adaptation, says GCA CEO Prof. Dr. Patrick Verkooijen, in his tribute to Dr. Saleemul Huq.

The Step Change initiative has approved seven new projects aimed at accelerating action and generating momentum for locally led climate adaptation in Africa.

Applications were received from individuals and organizations all around the world, and the five finalists in the Capacity Building category are implementing a diverse range of innovations that support a continuous and evolving process of learning.

The final five shortlisted in the Innovation in Devolving Finance category for the 2023 LAC Awards are exemplary, inspiring, and scalable examples of programs and projects that find innovative ways to enable and support local determination of climate challenges, priorities, and solutions.

The Women in Leadership category at this year’s Local Adaptation Champions Awards spotlights women leaders at the local, national, or global level who have designed or are implementing climate-resilience efforts in and for local communities.

The final five nominees in the Business Adaptations Solutions category demonstrate how small and large businesses are expanding access to adaptation solutions or technologies that address local climate-related vulnerabilities. The solutions also support efforts to address structural inequalities.

The Global Center on Adaptation has selected the 20 shortlisted finalists for the 2023 Local Adaptation Champions Awards in four categories: Capacity Building, Business Adaptation Solutions, Innovation in Devolving Finance, and Women in Leadership.

Community Leaders from Mukuru, the largest informal settlement in Nairobi, showcased some of the early initiatives from their People’s Adaptation Plan to a visiting international delegation today. The delegation included Ban Ki-moon, 8th Secretary-General of the United Nations and Chair, Global Center on Adaptation (GCA); Professor Patrick Verkooijen, CEO, GCA and Distinguished Chair of The Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace and Environmental Studies; Dan Jørgensen, Minister for Development Cooperation and Global Climate Policy, Denmark; and Chrysoula Zacharopoulou, Minister of State for Development, Francophonie and International Partnerships, France.

Statement developed by residents of Mukuru, one of the biggest informal settlements in Africa, at a Community Dialogue organized by Global Center on Adaptation and Akiba Mashinani Trust on 3 September 2023 in Nairobi, Kenya, in advance of the 2023 Africa Climate Summit.

The Community Dialogue organized a day before the Africa Climate Summit will seek inputs from community members, on how adaptation finance can not only be doubled by 2025, but also be made more accessible by communities, and flexible and predictable to address their needs more effectively.

The Adaptation Fund announced its support to the 2023 GCA Local Adaptation Champions Awards, which recognize individuals and organizations from across the globe that are at the forefront of delivering innovative, inspiring, and scalable locally led efforts to build effective climate resilience among vulnerable communities.

At the second planning meeting of the Bangladesh National Platform on Locally Led Adaptation on 17 August 2023, participants discussed a mechanism to promote a "360 accountability" approach that is currently being piloted through the Community Led Innovation for Climate Risk Mitigation project in Cox's Bazaar. The mechanism is focused on tracking LLA finance flows; groundtruthing with metrics and markers; and dialogues to bring together divergent perspectives on LLA.

With over 50% of urban residents living in informal settlements in Bangladesh, addressing their vulnerability is a key priority. At this national workshop, participants discussed how supporting secondary cities to plan for climate migration could reduce informality and support economic growth, turning a potential burden into an opportunity.

Communities and local governments need the right information, at the right scale, to inform locally-led adaptation planning processes. How can this best be delivered in ways that are more targeted to local needs, and more accessible and usable by local actors? Communities around the world are collecting data to understand their own risks and vulnerabilities. How can their efforts be recognised and supported? This Roundtable convened community representatives and experts to discuss challenges and opportunities to data available for LLA.

1300-1430 GMT on 14 March 2023

The 2022 GCA Local Adaptation Champions Awards recognize locally led efforts to adapt to the negative impacts of climate change across four categories: financial governance, inclusive leadership, capacity and knowledge, and local innovation. The four winners of the Awards in 2022, from Asia and Africa, shared their work during Gobeshona 2023.     

10:00-11:30 GMT on 16 March 2023

Kenya's First Lady Rachel Ruto has voiced her support for The Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program, launched by the African Development Bank (ADB) and the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA).

As curtains closed on COP27 at Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, Adaptation Consortium, a Kenyan organisation emerged among winners of the Local Adaptation Champions Awards, organised by the Global Centre on Adaptation (GCA).

WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM - The Executive Director of BRAC, Asif Saleh, writes that we have both a moral imperative and a clear economic case for supporting low-income countries to adapt to the climate crisis. Bringing the expertise and resources of the public and private sectors together, working with governments, could save millions of lives and billions in disaster response, and slow climate migration. Without it, what is happening in Bangladesh will happen to the rest of the world.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday launched the Global Hub on Locally Led Adaptation that aims to serve as a global platform on climate adaptation under the aegis of the Global Centre on Adaptation (GCA).

Patrick Verkooijen, the CEO of the GCA, explains how investing in climate change adaptation can bring higher returns on investment in an interview with United News of Bangladesh.

In an interview with Dhaka Tribune’s Ali Asif Shawon, GCA CEO Patrick V Verkooijen explains why Bangladesh was chosen as the location for the GCA's Global Hub on Locally Led Adaptation.

Investing in climate adaptation is not just the right thing to do, but is also the economically smart thing to do says GCA CEO Patrick Verkooijen, during the launch of the Global Hub on Locally Led Adaptation.

বাংলাদেশ ঢাকায় গ্লোবাল সেন্টার অন অ্যাডাপ্টেশন (জিসিএ) আঞ্চলিক কার্যালয়কে এই অঞ্চল এবং এর বাইরেও শ্রেষ্ঠত্বের কেন্দ্র হিসেবে আবির্ভূত হওয়ার অপেক্ষায় রয়েছে-প্রধানমন্ত্রী গণভবন থেকে ভার্চুয়ালি ফরেন সার্ভিস একাডেমিতে যোগদান করে ‘গ্লোবাল হাব অন লোকালি লেড অ্যাডাপ্টেশন’ খোলার ঘোষণা দিয়ে এ কথা বলেন।

ফরেন সার্ভিস একাডেমিতে ‘গ্লোবাল হাব অন লোকালি লেড অ্যাডাপটেশন’ খোলার ঘোষণা দিয়ে প্রধানমন্ত্রী শেখ হাসিনা বলেন, আমাদের স্থানীয়রা তাদের প্রথা জ্ঞানে জলবায়ুর সঙ্গে খাপ খাইয়ে নেয়ার চেষ্টা করে থাকেন। আমাদের সরকার উদ্বোধনী শক্তি ও সম্পদ দিয়ে তাদের পাশে আছে। বাংলাদেশ এখন বিশ্বে জলবায়ুর ঝুঁকি মোকাবিলায় রোল মডেল হিসেবে বিবেচিত হয়।

The GCA South Asia Partnership Forum took place in Dhaka, Bangladesh on 11 December 2022, right after the launch of the Global Hub on Locally Led Adaptation and focused on sharing experiences and lessons on scaling up LLA.