Ministers and representatives from 11 countries implementing the LoCAL Climate Adaptive Living Facility and the Chair of the LDC group to the UNFCCC have signed a declaration to call on all partners in the upcoming COP26 climate negotiations to use LoCAL for fast-tracking the implementation of country’s National Adaptation Plans, Nationally Determined Contributions and the LDC 2050 Vision. Their declaration will be presented at a special event as part of New York Climate Week on 23rd September.

The LoCAL Board, made up of representatives from the 27 countries engaging LoCAL, want finance for their existing country-based initiatives to be scaled up. Representatives from Least Developed Countries, of which 22 are implementing or designing LoCAL interventions, plan to call for LoCAL to be used as the mechanism to deliver that scale up, which they say will support advancement of the LDC 2050 Vision.

Ministers from The Gambia, Jamaica, Malawi and Niger will present their declaration at the high-level meeting “Launching a LDC and SIDS led Ministerial Declaration for raising ambition on local adaptation: Scaling up innovative subnational climate finance instruments and mechanisms for NDC and NAP implementation in LDCs, SIDS and Sub-Saharan Africa” at 9 Eastern/ 15h CEST on 23 September as part of New York Climate Week.

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The event aims to share experiences and successful examples on the implementation of tested innovative finance solutions for locally led adaptation, particularly through the LoCAL facility, and to provide an ambition boost for increased leadership in mobilizing the level of adaptation finance needed for NDC and NAP implementation at subnational and local levels.

“LoCAL has emerged as the perfect finance window for the LDCs, with 22 LDCs being part of LoCAL. It is proving to be the most appropriate platform for flow of finance for the locally led adaptation for the LDCs, particularly as a standard and recognized country-based mechanism that supports direct access to the Green Climate Fund and other climate finance entities and mechanisms to transfer resources to local governments through national systems for building verifiable climate change adaptation and resilience,” said Sonam P. Wangdi who is Chair of the LDC Group at the UNFCCC, Co-Chair of the LoCAL Board and will attend the September event.

The vast majority of tracked climate finance continues to flow toward mitigation activities, with adaptation finance making up only 5% of flows (CPI, 2019). Of this meagre amount, “less than 20% of the funding for adaptation seems to go to the most vulnerable communities in the most vulnerable countries”, according to the International Centre for Climate Change and Development, 2019. On the other hand, the Global Commission on Adaptation (GCA 2019) estimates adaptation costs at USD 180 billion annually from 2020 to 2030.

National and subnational governments and communities are best placed to understand local adaptation needs, challenges and opportunities and have a direct stake in any climate action outcome but face a myriad of obstacles to accessing climate finance, which overwhelmingly is channeled through international intermediaries.

Innovative finance solutions and mechanisms, like LoCAL, offer a powerful and cost-effective instrument to meet the escalating adaptation finance needs, particularly communities in the worlds’ most vulnerable countries where climate change is already having a devastating impact.

The LoCAL Facility, designed and hosted by the UN Capital Development Fund, is supporting 27 countries, mostly LDCs, SIDS and African nations, to integrate climate change adaptation into local governments’ planning and budgeting systems, increase awareness of and response to climate change at the local level, and increase the amount of finance available to local governments for locally led adaptation and resilience-building.

Local actions dovetail with the priorities of the LDC 2050 Vision of putting all LDCs on a climate resilient development pathway by 2030 and delivering net-zero emissions by 2050. With collaboration, LDCs have committed to align efforts to realise the commitments of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and Paris Agreement, implementing action at both the national and local level.

High-Level representatives and ministers from countries deploying the LoCAL mechanism earlier this year signed a Ministerial Declaration aimed to provide political guidance and high-level leadership for the efforts on locally led adaptation action in vulnerable countries particularly, LDCs, SIDS and African countries. Their call is a strong message ahead of COP26 for increased climate finance for NDC and NAP-aligned locally led action.

The Ministerial Declaration advocates for the LoCAL mechanism and its recognition as a government led, internationally recognized country-based mechanism for channelling climate finance transparently and effectively for local action. It also urges donor countries to continue providing financial resources to respond to the growing demand from countries that wish to implement the LoCAL mechanism and expand the local governments reached in existing LoCAL countries.

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