Up-scaling finance for community-based adaptation
Abstract
While most adaptation actions occur at the local level, there is an absence of commitment at the international level to channel adaptation finance to local communities. Without such a commitment, there is a risk that climate finance will continue to support top-down, centralized activities that may struggle to address the needs of vulnerable communities. This paper explores ways in which community-based adaptation is presently being mainstreamed through the multilateral funds that are used to channel adaptation finance under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change process, and points to two promising examples that demonstrate this. The first is the Small Grants Programme of the Global Environmental Facility, an established modality through which community organizations can access finance to manage their adaptation needs. The second is the direct access modality of the Adaptation Fund, which devolves decision-making power from multilateral agencies towards the national and local levels. At the country level, experiences from Nepal demonstrate an institutional environment that helps to prioritize the adaptation needs of the most vulnerable. Nepal achieves this by mandating that at least 80% of available finance flows to the community level, and that the implementation of projects is conducted in a bottom-up and inclusive process.
Citation
Fenton, A.; Gallagher, D.; Wright, H.; Huq, S.; Nyandiga, C. Up-scaling finance for community-based adaptation. Taylor & Francis: STM, Behavioural Science and Public Health Titles, (2014) 397 pp. [Special Issue: Community-based adaptation: Mainstreaming into national and local planning; DOI: 10.1080/17565529.2014.953902]