Members of the media are invited to attend the round table discussion “Local Governments and Climate Change: Financial and Institutional Mechanisms for Local Adaptation”.  The event will address the key financial and institutional issues underlying practical and effective local adaptation and resilience. Lessons will be drawn from LoCAL, the UN Capital Development Fund’s facility for investment in local level climate resilience.

By virtue of their mandates, most Local Governments are already responsible for those sectors that cumulatively make a locality resilient, including investing in and maintaining basic infrastructure such as roads, water and sanitation facilities, enforcing zoning laws, and managing disaster risk. However, in most developing countries, local governments lack the fiscal space to invest in ‘climate-proofing’ their existing infrastructure or undertake other forward-looking investments that help build resilience

The main objective of the event is to reach consensus on the concrete financial and institutional measures that can be taken to create effective local adaptation. Participants at this event are senior officials from Government and International Organizations with the mandate and authority to make concrete commitments. The findings of the session will be incorporated into the rollout of the LoCAL Facility. These commitments will provide a tangible contribution to the success of the Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development and specifically to the Mountain Pavilion.