Untapped Potential: The Role of Local Governments in Locally Led Adaptation

The paper argues that local governments are underutilized actors in locally led adaptation (LLA) and demonstrates how the Local Climate Adaptive Living Facility (LoCAL) supports them through performance-based grants and capacity building. Using case studies from Niger, Lesotho, and Cambodia, the text shows that while local governments can effectively bridge the gap between national policy and community action, they may also reflect exclusionary power dynamics that require broader engagement with non-state actors to ensure inclusivity.

• The LoCAL mechanism advances locally led adaptation by providing local governments with performance-based climate resilience grants, capacity building, and awareness raising, which allows these governments to make adaptation decisions and integrate climate change into local planning within existing institutional structures.
• Local governments possess untapped potential to serve as essential intermediaries that connect national climate policies and climate finance with adaptation actions at the community level.
• Despite their potential, local governments may perpetuate exclusionary politics and power dynamics similar to higher government levels, meaning the LoCAL mechanism alone cannot resolve entrenched systemic power issues.
• LoCAL facilitates the participation of vulnerable groups and non-state actors by linking with subnational planning and budgeting processes that promote the devolution of power.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). Untapped Potential: The Role of Local Governments in Locally Led Adaptation. https://www.wri.org/research/untapped-potential-role-local-governments-locally-led-adaptation-experiences-local-climate

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Untapped Potential: The Role of Local Governments in Locally Led Adaptation. n.d. https://www.wri.org/research/untapped-potential-role-local-governments-locally-led-adaptation-experiences-local-climate.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Untapped Potential: The Role of Local Governments in Locally Led Adaptation |url=https://www.wri.org/research/untapped-potential-role-local-governments-locally-led-adaptation-experiences-local-climate |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutenduntapped, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Untapped Potential: The Role of Local Governments in Locally Led Adaptation}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/untapped-potential-role-local-governments-locally-led-adaptation-experiences-local-climate}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }