Asia-Pacific is one of the world’s most vulnerable regions to the effects of climate change and the expected impacts are likely to intensify in the future. The region is also a large emitter of greenhouse gases (GHGs), and unless urgent action is taken to curb emissions, this trend will exacerbate in the future. It is widely acknowledged that a significant increase in public and private financial resources from national and international sources will be required to meet these adaptation and mitigation challenges.

While existing literature on ‘climate change finance’ calls for attention to the local aspects of climate change, so far the voices of experiences from the local level have been less audible in the international and national climate change discourse. The local dimension of climate finance is important not only because of the intrinsically local nature of climate change vulnerability, but also because of the critical role of local practitioners in achieving effective results on the ground. A localised response can draw from local knowledge and include the participation of those most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

Based on a regional consultation in Bangkok in late 2012, a framework was agreed on for shaping effective responses to climate change at the local level. The four pillars, which also guide the discussion in this report, can be summarized as follows:

I. An enabling institutional environment for climate change finance,

II. Improved delivery of climate finance,

III. More effective and equitable planning and budgeting for climate initiatives, and

IV. Monitoring and evaluating the local impact of climate finance.

Taken together, these four pillars are intended as an overarching framework that can be
used to inform a suitable approach to ensure that finance is channelled and used effectively
to address climate change at the local level.