FAQs on Locally Led Adaptation & their Principles

The document defines Locally Led Adaptation (LLA) as the devolution of authority and resources to local actors—particularly marginalized groups—to give them agency over the design and delivery of climate adaptation. It highlights a significant funding gap, noting that less than 10% of global climate fund finance reached local levels between 2006-2016. To address this, the document promotes the 8 LLA Principles, launched at the 2021 Climate Adaptation Summit, and calls for 25% of climate finance to be dedicated to LLA, potentially increasing toward the LDC Group's target of 70% by 2030. It emphasizes the necessity of grant-based finance for public goods and low-income communities to build the resilience required to attract larger private investments.

• Locally Led Adaptation (LLA) is defined by the devolution of authority and resource control to local actors, ensuring that marginalized groups—including women, youth, children, people with disabilities, displaced people, Indigenous people, and racial or ethnic minority groups—have agency over the design, prioritization, and delivery of adaptation efforts.
• There is a severe imbalance in climate finance distribution; IIED estimates that between 2006 and 2016, less than 10% of global climate fund finance was dedicated to local levels, and in 2019, less than 2.5% of humanitarian aid reached local actors.
• The document proposes a target of 25% of climate finance for LLA, suggesting this increase over time to align with the LDC Group's goal of 70% of climate finance being delivered to the local level by 2030.
• Grant-based finance is prioritized because adaptation investments in public goods often lack revenue opportunities and are necessary to help the lowest-income countries and small enterprises build enough resilience to attract trillions in private finance.
• Specific national commitments to local climate finance include Nepal, which has set an 80% commitment, and Kenya, which has set a 70% commitment for spending at the ward level and 20% at the County level.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). FAQs on Locally Led Adaptation & their Principles. https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2022-10/faqs-principles-locally-led-adaptation.pdf

Chicago

World Resources Institute. FAQs on Locally Led Adaptation & their Principles. n.d. https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2022-10/faqs-principles-locally-led-adaptation.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=FAQs on Locally Led Adaptation & their Principles |url=https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2022-10/faqs-principles-locally-led-adaptation.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendfaqs, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{FAQs on Locally Led Adaptation \& their Principles}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2022-10/faqs-principles-locally-led-adaptation.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }