In the face of intensifying climate change impacts and the urgent need for ambitious climate action, finance and other means of implementation have been identified as key enablers. However, many developing countries lack sufficient domestic resources to fully address the impacts of climate change on their territories, people, and economies, while global funds mostly target the regional or national level and may not reach the ground.

While the impacts of climate change are already severely felt on the ground, accessing finance at the local level at the required scale and speed remains a challenge. This persists despite clear evidence documenting the specific needs of subnational actors, including communities, local governments, cities, and regions, in response to the changing climate. Particularly for those who are most vulnerable, investments into adaptation, resilience-building, and responding to loss and damage (L&D) are essential to protect human lives, livelihoods, health and wellbeing, social cohesion, and cultural heritage.

Currently, there is a mismatch between these clear needs on the ground and the ability of sub-national actors to access climate finance. It is therefore vital to evaluate potential modalities for local access that could be operationalized by the new Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD) as well as other global funds including the Green Climate Fund (GCF), Global Environment Facility (GEF), and Adaptation Fund.

Building on stakeholder input and lessons learned from existing funds as well as other sectors (e.g., health, the humanitarian sector, or disaster risk management), this primer provides an overview of key aspects of local access to climate finance.