At COP27, the World Bank hosted a high-level panel on scaling locally led climate action, with insights from senior government representatives from Kenya, Egypt, and Tanzania.
With weather-related disasters such as floods, droughts, and landslides on the rise, putting people at the center of climate action is increasingly critical. While local communities are on the frontlines of climate impacts, they typically lack voice in the policy and decision-making processes that affect their lives and capacities to cope with shocks and stressors in the present and adapt to changing conditions in the long term.
Locally led climate action channels funds and decision-making power to the local level, where communities are more aware of the context and what is needed to drive change. This approach strengthens systems and capacities for locally driven climate action and supports partnerships between governments, communities, and civil society to assess climate risks and identify socially inclusive solutions that are tailored to local needs and priorities.