Locally Led Climate Adaptation: What Is Needed to Accelerate Action and Support?

The paper analyzes over 70 evaluation materials and 374 projects to assess the prevalence and effectiveness of locally led climate adaptation. It finds that while many projects involve local actors, very few grant them actual decision-making power over finance and design. The authors identify key enablers of success, such as flexible funding and investment in local institutional capacity, while highlighting barriers like low funder accountability and insufficient direct funding to the local level. The document argues for a shift from treating local actors as beneficiaries to treating them as agents of change through devolved finance and iterative program design.

• A review of 374 projects revealed that only 138 (approximately one third) contained explicit locally led elements, and only 22 featured a locally led approach as a core or central component. Local actors are typically involved as recipients rather than in leadership or decision-making roles regarding funding allocation.
• Barriers to financing locally led adaptation include insufficient funding reaching the local level, a lack of investment in local capacities to manage funds, and low levels of accountability from implementing entities and funders to local actors.
• Successful locally led adaptation is enabled by flexibility in program design and disbursement, investments in community leadership and local institutional capacities, and the use of existing governance and finance networks to reduce transaction costs and achieve scale.
• To accelerate action, the authors recommend encouraging iterative approaches to design, including local actors in decision-making from start to finish, increasing technical capacity building, and building a stronger evidence base for locally led adaptation.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). Locally Led Climate Adaptation: What Is Needed to Accelerate Action and Support? https://www.wri.org/research/locally-led-climate-adaptation-what-needed-accelerate-action-and-support

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Locally Led Climate Adaptation: What Is Needed to Accelerate Action and Support? n.d. https://www.wri.org/research/locally-led-climate-adaptation-what-needed-accelerate-action-and-support.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Locally Led Climate Adaptation: What Is Needed to Accelerate Action and Support? |url=https://www.wri.org/research/locally-led-climate-adaptation-what-needed-accelerate-action-and-support |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendlocally, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Locally Led Climate Adaptation: What Is Needed to Accelerate Action and Support?}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/locally-led-climate-adaptation-what-needed-accelerate-action-and-support}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }