GCA Launches Stories of Resilience at COP30, Calling for a Breakthrough in Climate Adaptation Finance

Excerpt from gca.org

Belém, Brazil, 11 November 2025 — The Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) today launched its flagship publication Stories of Resilience: Lessons from Local Adaptation Practice at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP30), calling for a step-change in global efforts to finance and scale locally led adaptation. The report showcases powerful evidence from Africa and Asia that locally led adaptation (LLA) delivers faster, fairer, and more sustainable results when communities are in charge of defining priorities, shaping investments, and managing risk. Yet, it warns that less than 17 percent of global adaptation finance currently reaches the local level, even as climate shocks intensify and the annual adaptation finance gap has widened to US$187–359 billion.

“Effective adaptation begins where climate risks are felt — in people’s homes, markets, and natural environments,” said Professor Patrick Verkooijen, President and CEO of the Global Center on Adaptation. “Communities are not just beneficiaries; they are architects of their own resilience. Local leadership is not a risk — it is the solution.”