Locally Led Climate Action

Strengthening local agency for sustained impact

Overview

Locally Led Climate Action (LLCA) is central to how the Green Climate Fund (GCF) delivers on its mandate to support the most vulnerable. Climate change is profoundly local in its impacts. Yet too often, local actors are left without the resources or authority to shape the responses that affect their lives.

LLCA addresses this gap by placing decision-making power and financial resources in the hands of local actors – across governments, civil society, and the private sector – who are best positioned to design and implement climate responses grounded in local realities.

GCF’s approach to LLCA builds on globally endorsed Principles for Locally Led Adaptation and GCF’s operational experience, including with the Enhancing Direct Access pilot. GCF’s commitment to LLCA aligns with its Strategic Plan for 2024–2027 and the "50by30" vision, which calls for the importance of enhancing direct access and delivering greater impact for the most vulnerable. Through LLCA, GCF is scaling up support for country-owned, locally driven solutions by leveraging its global partner network and flexible financing modalities to build long-term resilience.

Locally Led Climate Action Framework

GCF's approach to locally led climate action is elaborated in a dedicated framework grounded in three parameters:

  1. Devolving decision-making and finance
    Climate finance reaches the most relevant local actors, and local actors drive needs assessments, resource prioritization and allocation
  2. Local ownership and implementation
    Local actors participate in climate finance delivery channels across planning and project lifecycles
  3. Sustainable local capacity and enabling environment
    Local institutions, networks, and actors have the knowledge, systems and tools to lead climate action over time.

These parameters will be embedded into GCF’s origination and appraisal processes, shaping how projects are developed, assessed, and implemented. Through this framework, GCF supports adaptive, scalable solutions that reflect diverse local realities and ensure long-term resilience.

Projects

These project examples highlight diverse approaches, reflect varying degrees of progress toward locally led climate action and are intended to illustrate learning and practice.

Please note: This is not an exhaustive list of projects.

SAP008
Adaptation

Bangladesh

Extended Community Climate Change Project-Flood (ECCCP-Flood)

FP118
Cross-cutting

Nepal

Building a Resilient Churia Region in Nepal (BRCRN)

FP113
Adaptation

Kenya

TWENDE: Towards Ending Drought Emergencies: Ecosystem Based Adaptation in Kenya’s Arid and Semi-Arid Rangelands

SAP006
Adaptation

Namibia

Building resilience of communities living in landscapes threatened under climate change through an ecosystems-based adaptation approach

FP087
Adaptation

Guatemala

Building livelihood resilience to climate change in the upper basins of Guatemala’s highlands

FP061
Adaptation

Multiple countries

Integrated physical adaptation and community resilience through an enhanced direct access pilot in the public, private, and civil society sectors of three Eastern Caribbean small island developing states

FP024
Adaptation

Namibia

Enpower to Adapt: Creating Climate-Change Resilient Livelihoods through Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) in Namibia

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Resources

 

GCF’s Locally Led Climate Action framework and guidance

07 Nov 2025

This document elaborates guidance on advancing good locally led practices through GCF modalities. Part 1 introduces GCF’s parameters and approach to devolution in the GCF business model and elaborates approaches for context-specific models. Part 2 provides step-by-step guidance for developing and structuring funding proposals in alignment with the parameters. A set of annexes cover Readiness, local, traditional and Indigenous knowledge, a related checklist and relevant examples from GCF portfolio.

GCF in Brief: Locally Led Climate Action

24 Apr 2025

The Green Climate Fund is committed to ensuring climate finance reaches the most vulnerable and to scaling up direct access through Locally Led Climate Action (LLCA). LLCA enhances country ownership by grounding decisions in lived realities and empowering local actors to deliver sustainable, inclusive and context-specific climate solutions. This factsheet provides an overview of GCF's approach to Locally Led Climate Action and presents approved project examples that meaningfully engage local actors in decision-making, implementation and monitoring. 

Webinars

 

Virtual consultation sessions on the GCF’s Locally Led Climate Action framework and guidelines

18 Sep 2025 / The Green Climate Fund (GCF) will convene a follow-up virtual consultation session with accredited observers on the draft Locally Led Climate Action (LLCA) Framework and Guidelines. Building on the initial consultation held earlier in September, this session is part of a phased, participatory process aimed at enhancing the quality, relevance, and inclusivity of the draft guidance.
Information session 8 on Locally Led Climate Action

27 May 2025 / The Green Climate Fund (GCF) hosted two virtual sessions on Locally Led Climate Action as part of its ongoing series of Readiness Information Sessions. These sessions explored how locally led climate action (LLCA) is being championed through GCF programming—ensuring climate finance reaches those most vulnerable to climate impacts. The sessions focused on how the GCF Readiness Programme can be strategically leveraged to create an enabling environment for LLCA.