Building on two decades of experience in local development finance, the UN Climate Development Fund (UNCDF) has established the Local Climate Adaptive Living Facility (LoCAL) to address the unfunded mandate of local governments in addressing climate change adaptation.
Local governments in least developed countries (LDCs) are in a unique position 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 required for building climate resilience. Yet they frequently lack the resources to do so – particularly in a manner aligned with established local decision-making processes and planning, budgeting and budget execution cycles. In this context, LoCAL comes to empower local governments to contribute towards the achievements of national determined contributions (NDCs) and NAPs where available.