Locally Led Adaptation: From Principles to Practice

The paper examines 21 examples of locally led adaptation (LLA) across Africa, Asia-Pacific, and the Caribbean and Latin America to provide strategies for financing and implementing resilience efforts. It argues that LLA redresses power imbalances by prioritizing the agency of local organizations and Indigenous peoples, who are often best positioned to identify adaptation solutions. The document recommends that funders and governments increase the volume and flexibility of climate finance, integrate social equity into standard processes, and shift governance to center local priorities.

• Locally led adaptation (LLA) aims to provide equitable access to financing and decision-making for local actors and communities, particularly those disproportionately vulnerable to climate change, while leveraging local knowledge and innovation for resilience.
• Implementing LLA is often complex because it requires significant departures from standard practices to redress historical power imbalances and prioritize local agency in governance and financing.
• A review of 21 LLA interventions across Africa, Asia-Pacific, and the Caribbean and Latin America demonstrates various successful mechanisms for delivering finance to local actors, including microfinance, loan funds, grants facilities, savings schemes, social protection schemes, domestic finance programs, national planning policies, and community-led early warning and emergency response systems.
• To advance LLA, the paper recommends that institutions increase the amount, accessibility, and flexibility of climate finance, apply LLA principles holistically, invest in research to fill evidence gaps, and integrate social equity into standard decision-making processes.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). Locally Led Adaptation: From Principles to Practice. https://www.wri.org/research/locally-led-adaptation-principles-practice

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Locally Led Adaptation: From Principles to Practice. n.d. https://www.wri.org/research/locally-led-adaptation-principles-practice.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Locally Led Adaptation: From Principles to Practice |url=https://www.wri.org/research/locally-led-adaptation-principles-practice |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendlocally, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Locally Led Adaptation: From Principles to Practice}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/locally-led-adaptation-principles-practice}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }