Background

Resilience and adaptation to climate change is a major development issue for Least Developed Countries (LDCs) that threatens to slow down their growth and limit their poverty reduction efforts. One way of rapidly addressing climate change and building resilient communities and economies is to engage the local level more meaningfully because this is where responsibility for many crucially important small to medium sized adaptation investments lies. This includes, but is not limited to, responsibilities for water management (irrigation, drainage, river and sea defenses, storage and harvesting); land use and construction regulation (zoning, planning, building standards enforcement); and support to the local economy (agricultural extension, changing cropping patterns, storage and distribution).

Yet despite the clear relevance of the local level to meaningful adaptation, evidence shows that most local governments in LDCs are not able to contribute effectively to climate change adaptation and resilience building due to a number of reasons, including: a lack of appropriate budgetary allocations from the national level leading to unfunded mandates; an inability of local governments to absorb the incremental costs of climate change adaptation leading to diversion of development funds away from issues like education and economic development; a lack of financing for revenue generating private and public/private adaptation projects at the local level; and the fact that the main sources of climate finance are often only available and accessed through application to national programmes that have specific, earmarked, arrangements and which fall outside of the established decision making processes and public expenditure management cycle.

LoCAL responds to this challenge by providing a mechanism with three features: it enables the mainstreaming of Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) into local governments' planning and budgeting systems; it increases awareness and response to climate change at the local level, and; it increases the amount of finance available to local governments for CCA.

LoCAL does this by piloting an instrument for programming and verification of climate change expenditure at the local level and using the demonstration of its effect to trigger further flows for local adaptation, including national fiscal transfers and access to global climate finance for local governments (through their national governments) and for private sector and public/private adaptation initiatives. LoCAL will largely work with rural local governments of the lowest or second lowest tier and small towns of under six hundred thousand people. LoCAL will enable member states to provide effective public and private finance for resilient communities and economies at the local level, thus diversifying their economic base and broadening their national resilience to climate change. It will provide LDCs with a mechanism to attract further climate finance for the local level.

LoCAL Forum Meeting

The LoCAL Forum is a network for the LoCAL participating countries to discuss the lesson learned and experiences of each counter in addressing and implementing the Climate Change Adaptation activities at their local level. Participants of the forum dialog are the LoCAL board participants and funders of the LoCAL facility and the donors. Members of the LoCAL Forum will be comprised of participating LoCAL countries who are currently members of the LoCAL Project Board. Through the LoCAL Forum Meeting, local governments from LDCs and low-income countries will strengthen their networking capacity at the global level to improve their capacity in dealing with Climate Change events and help their communities at the local level.

Purpose of the meeting

Review the progress of the LoCAL Project, including approving the 2013 budget revision, and endorsing the new (global) LoCAL Project Document.

Date and Location of the Meeting

Date: 23rd June 2014

Location: New York

Summary of the agenda:

1. Presentation on the progress of the LoCAL Regional Project and key achievements in 2013 and budget revision by the LoCAL Project Manager

2. Presentation of the LoCAL Global Project Document by LoCAL Project Manager

3. Discussion and comment/approval of the 2013 budget revision

4. Discussion and comment on the 2014 Draft AWP

5. Discussion and comment/endorsement of the LoCAL Global Project Documents

6. Any other issues/business

7. Concluding remarks by UNCDF Local Development Finance Director

Participants:

As noted above, the board members consist of Senior Beneficiaries, Senior Suppliers and UNCDF Executive who will be represented by:

Project Board member :

·       Government of Cambodia and Government of Bhutan (Piloting countries);

-     Representative from New LoCAL participating countries:

-        Bangladesh

-        Nepal

-        Benin

-        Solomon Islands (pending  the MoU signatories)

-        Mali (Pending the MoU Signatories)

-        Ghana (Pending the MoU Signatories)

·       Director of Local Development Finance Practice, UNCDF

Board observers are:

·       UN Ambassador Benin

·       UNCDF Executive Secretary

·       UNCDF, LDF Deputy Director

·       WRI,

·       KACCC,

Project Management