A new five-year phase of CDKN (2022-27) aims to advance gender-equitable and socially-inclusive climate-resilient action by mobilising knowledge-into-action, capacity and Southern climate leadership from local to global levels.

The latest IPCC report stresses that urgent collective and transformative action across society is needed to avoid severe disruption to human and natural systems from climate change. The 2022 UN Adaptation Gap report confirms adaptation finance flows to developing countries are 5-10 times below estimated requirements, and these flows are not reaching the local level where they are needed most. Damage to nature is undermining human wellbeing and is one of the drivers of climate change. 

There is thus an urgent need for accelerated equitable climate resilience in the global South that puts local people at the centre of climate action. Acknowledging this, institutions around the world are adopting the principles of locally-led adaptation that recognise the expertise and talents of communities on the climate frontlines to design resilience solutions. 

CDKN will build on 12 years of work to respond to these calls, collaborating with the most climate-affected people in the global South to improve their lives in support of locally-owned and -led climate-resilient action. We will support the integration of gender and social inclusion in climate policies and practice, strength the implementation of ecosystem-based adaptation, and enable access to equitable adaptation finance. 

The next chapter in CDKN’s journey is being implemented through Step Change – a Canada-Netherlands partnership to drive equitable and inclusive locally-led adaptation. 

CDKN continues to be funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands and Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) to the value of 18.5 million Canadian dollars.

CDKN is a Southern-led network founded in 2010 to advance climate-resilient development in the global South. The programme is managed by SouthSouthNorth, and implemented in partnership with Fundación Futuro Latinoamericano (FFLA) and ICLEI South Asia.

CDKN's Chief Executive Officer, Shehnaaz Moosa, said: “We are living in a decisive decade in human history, where what we do now to tackle the climate crisis and achieve sustainable development will have long-lasting implications. l am excited that CDKN is in a position as a Southern-based programme to forge solutions for the South by the South, and build on our experience to deepen our impact and focus on community-led climate action that is both gender-equitable and socially-inclusive. We look forward to continuing our successful collaboration with IDRC and the Dutch government over the next five years.”

“As a southern-led network, CDKN is uniquely positioned to provide added value in the knowledge brokering space on the juncture of science, policy, practice and innovation in order to accelerate equitable and inclusive locally-led adaptation, said Rene van Hell, Director of Inclusive Green Growth and Ambassador for Sustainable Development at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.

“Given the urgent need for equitable climate action, IDRC is pleased to support CDKN’s focus on Southern leadership with scaled up support for gender equality and social inclusion, adaptation finance for locally-led action and ecosystem-based adaptation. All of these elements are critical and necessary in society’s response to the climate crisis.” said Santiago Alba Corral, Director of Climate Resilient Food Systems at the IDRC.

CDKN will implement activities in countries in South Asia (principally India, Bangladesh, Nepal) and Latin American (principally Colombia, Ecuador and Peru). In Africa, we will have a pan-African programme and focal countries in East, West and southern Africa.

Read more on CDKN's next phase.