The Local Climate Adaptive Living (LoCAL) Facility, designed and managed by the UN Capital Development Fund, is a standard internationally recognized mechanism that helps local government authorities in developing and least developed countries access the climate finance, capacity building and technical support they need to respond and adapt to climate change.
Local authorities of developing and least developed countries (LDCs) are uniquely positioned to identify the climate change adaptation responses that best meet local needs and typically have the mandate to undertake the small- to medium-sized adaptation investments that are essential for building climate resilience. Yet in the most vulnerable nations, local authorities frequently lack the resources to take action, especially in a way aligned with established decision-making processes and public planning and budgeting cycles.
LoCAL combines performance-based climate resilience grants (PBCRGs), which ensure programming and verification of climate change expenditures at the local level, with technical and capacity-building support. LoCAL is designed to re-enforce existing national and sub-national financial and fiscal delivery systems, and it uses the demonstration effect to trigger further flows for local adaptation — including national fiscal transfers and global climate finance for local authorities — through their central governments.
LoCAL promotes climate change–resilient communities and economies by increasing finance and investment in climate change adaptation at the local level.