T20 Policy brief: Pathways to integrating adaptation and resilience into financial transition plans for climate-resilient development South African think tank initiative, T20, which is providing guidance to South Africa’s G20 presidency, has published a short policy brief calling for a shift in transition finance priorities as part of its accelerating climate action and the just energy transition taskforce. The brief was written by SSN programme leads Samson Mbewe and Phatsimo Rahman, Mairi Dupar, senior technical advisor for CDKN, based at ODI Global (UK), and SSN and CDKN director Dr Shehnaaz Moosa.

Improving local access to climate finance: Lessons from the CDKN Namibia country programme This blog, by Amanda April and Margaret Angula, dives into the critical challenge of ensuring climate finance effectively reaches local communities in Namibia. It examines the complexities of current funding flows, highlighting significant barriers and offering practical recommendations to bridge the gap between national climate goals and essential on-the-ground adaptation efforts.

What does a just transition mean for Africa? The concept of a just transition is not new and has been around since the 1980s when it was used by Trade Unions to draw attention to the social effects of environmental measures (United Nations, 2023). In the context of climate change, it aims to ensure that no one is left behind, or excluded, in the transition to environmentally sustainable and low-carbon economies.

Resilience in action: Implementing locally-led adaptation in Bangladesh Bangladesh, a country vulnerable to a wide range of climate-related disasters, such as tropical cyclones, floods, coastal erosion, droughts and landslides, has limited coping capacity or budget to adapt and respond to these disasters at the community level. However, communities in coastal, drought-prone and flood-prone regions are demonstrating the power and effectiveness of locally-led adaptation (LLA) efforts to build resilience to climate-related challenges.

CDKN reacts to the COP29 outcomes CDKN's CEO, Shehnaaz Moosa, reacts to the COP29 outcomes agreed in Baku over the last two weeks, particularly the new global finance goal, which falls far short of what developing countries urgently need. The deal leaves a big “out” and does not sound like the leadership we need to right historic climate injustices.

New knowledge brief demonstrates the value of ecosystem-based adaptation across the Rio Conventions At the recent Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) COP16 in Cali, Colombia, the Friends of Ecosystem-based Adaptation (FEBA) released a knowledge brief illustrating how EbA supports the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF).

CDKN’s knowledge brokering support to UNFCCC’s Needs-Based Finance project recognised in Adaptation Gap report The UN Environment Programme released its annual Adaptation Gap report last week, which calls for a dramatic increase in adaptation finance. As world leaders gather in Baku for COP29, the need for urgent climate finance is high on the agenda, especially for adaptation.

Advancing equitable ecosystem-based adaptation work: Reflections from COP16 Following a busy COP16, CDKN’s Thematic Leads on Ecosystem-based Adaptation and Finance reflect on what they see as the key outcomes, concerns and next steps for advancing more equitable ecosystem-based adaptation work from local to global levels.

Strengthening connections between biodiversity conservation and climate change adaptation in science-policy processes CDKN’s Nadia Sitas and Fatema Rajabali reflect on a recent Africa-focused training provided to the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) national focal points. This learning continues to inform how CDKN will support and strengthen biodiversity conservation and climate change adaptation to build resilience, protect life and foster sustainable land management which are priorities for countries and global frameworks alike.

Climate finance: The elusive accessibility and the need for transformative change Marginalised voices need amplification, and streamlined, flexible approaches are needed to foster and promote transformative change in climate finance. This blog forms part of a series from the Africa Regional Resilience Hub in the lead up to COP28. Along with other regions in the global South, the Regional Hubs work to amplify regional voices to global decision-making spaces, with a particular focus on communities and underrepresented and lesser heard voices.