Evidence of climate change everywhere. In the world’s least developed countries local governments are struggling to adapt and make their economies more resilient. But where to invest and what to do? So far, UNCDF’s Local Climate Adaptive Living Facility has supported local governments in Least Developed Countries to invest in building resilience according to their analysis of vulnerability. But how accurate is this analysis? If a bridge is damaged following a flood, does the engineer factor in the possibility of another flood at the same level? Or one twice as big? 

Up until now this kind of information was only available to local governments in places like Germany and Korea where central agencies provide support in up to date climate forecasting together with specific funding to build resilience.

Today the Korean Environmental Institute has agreed to share this knowledge with local governments in LDCs so that they can check their own experiences with the latest global forecasts and data on how climate change is affecting their urban and rural ecosystems.

After the COP 21 side event on “Shared Efforts for Adapting to Climate Change”, where Korea, Germany and LoCAL presented their methodologies and experiences, KEI agreed to support local member countries. Dr Young Il Song, Director General of KEI said…

“We are making the first step on supporting climate adaptation in LDCs through LoCAL. We hope this will be expanded to all LoCAL countries to establish a global mechanism.”

On behalf of the LDC members of LoCAL - Luc Gnacadja, the Special Representative of LoCAL project board, and former Head of United Nations Convention for the Combat of Desertification (UNDCC) said…

“Information is power. Therefore, one way to empower local communities in LDCs to provide them with the same information available to wealthy countries. This agreement is a wonderful example of the world coming together in the face of the challenge presented by a rapidly changing climate”