Asia

Region: Asia

Asia:

Projects
87
Resources
177
Stories
381
Active
Project
Active
Strengthening urban climate resilience across Asia

CDKN’s partnership with ICLEI South Asia strengthens urban climate resilience in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka by supporting local governments and communities to develop inclusive climate action plans, build capacity, and implement locally led adaptation. The programme focuses on gender equity and social inclusion (GESI), ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA), and practical interventions to enhance resilience and improve livelihoods in vulnerable urban areas.

Event
4th June 2026
CDKN in Bonn for the June Climate Meetings (SB64) CDKN Programme Lead, Lisa McNamara, CDKN GESI Lead, Patricia Bamanyaki, and partners will represent CDKN at multiple events during the 64th sessions of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice and the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SB64) in Bonn, Germany.
Feature
20th May 2026
Acting locally for global impact: Advancing biodiversity and climate action through rights, knowledge and governance To commemorate International Day for Biological Diversity, Nadia Sitas, Hannah Sack and Cris Robertson reflect on an urgent reality: biodiversity loss and climate change are deeply interconnected crises that require equally interconnected solutions. The Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), however, provides a shared roadmap to halt and reverse biodiversity loss, with ambitious targets that recognise the central role of people, rights, and governance systems. At CDKN our work aligns closely with this agenda.
Feature
13th May 2026
Forests at the centre of global action: Insights from practice as UNFF21 convenes As the 21st Session of the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF21) convenes, global attention turns to the critical role forests play in delivering on interconnected goals for climate, biodiversity and sustainable development. Forests cover more than 30% of the Earth’s land surface, support the livelihoods of over a billion people, and are home to around 80% of terrestrial biodiversity, yet they continue to face significant and ongoing degradation.
Feature
20th April 2026
Building resilience or building risk? Lessons from Sapatana Ashrayan in Bangladesh As part of the CDKN Knowledge Accelerator for Climate Compatible Development Programme, a team from our alliance partners, ICLEI South Asia, visited Ward 9 of Lalmonirhat Municipality in Bangladesh. The visit focused on assessing the Sapatana Ashrayan national housing project, examining how effectively it addresses climate vulnerability and livelihood challenges in this highly exposed region. The team sought to answer an important question: does providing housing alone ensure long-term resilience in a changing climate.
Active
Project
Active
Locally led adaptation: Priority area

The risks faced by people and ecosystems in a changing climate vary from one locality to another. It’s partly a question of physical geography and partly a question of the human factors – social, economic, cultural – that make people resilient or vulnerable to climate hazards. That is why adaptation should be locally led. Adaptation is most effective when it is centred on people’s human rights and driven by the knowledge and needs that local people, especially the most marginalised groups, bring to the table.

Resource
15th January 2026
Struggling to mainstream climate issues? Lessons learnt from CDKN’s knowledge brokering experience A learning resource that synthesises insights from CDKN’s knowledge brokering work across Asia and Africa since 2018. It identifies seven common challenges to mainstreaming climate change into policy and decision-making and illustrates practical, context-specific pathways for overcoming them. The resource draws on partner reflections, interviews, and learning exchanges to support practitioners working at the climate–development interface.
Feature
8th December 2025
COP30 nature agenda: Modest wins, missed opportunities, and the urgent case for coherent action COP30 was promising in its symbolism, with the over 900 Indigenous Peoples in the Blue Zone, and an agenda that elevated Indigenous voices, rights and nature finance. But by the close of the final plenary, there was only evidence of small incremental changes – not the bold and ambitious outcomes needed to support transformative change, say CDKN EbA Thematic Lead, Nadia Sitas, and CDKN Senior Technical Advisor, Mairi Dupar.
Feature
2nd December 2025
New UNFCCC Gender Action Plan finds nuance in women’s needs and opportunities By Mairi Dupar and Patricia Bamanyaki. Gender equality is currently under threat. Governments are sidelining it in policy making; international agreements and negotiated texts are backsliding on once accepted gender language; and donors are retreating from prioritising gender financing. Without bold and transformative action, the hard-won gains of women and marginalised groups risk being erased.
News
6th November 2025
CDKN at COP30 As the world’s climate leadership gathers in Belém, Brazil, for COP30, CDKN and its partners are shaping conversations on adaptation and resilience, placing the knowledge and leadership of the Global South at the centre of resilient approaches to climate adaptation challenges.
Feature
4th November 2025
Rethinking climate and biodiversity finance through a rights-based lens When we talk about financing the response to climate change and biodiversity loss, the discussion often turns to numbers; how much is being pledged, how much is being spent, how big the gap remains. But as became clear during a recent Paris Committee on Capacity-building Network (PCCB) webinar, finance is never just about figures. It reflects the choices we make about what, who and, how we value.
Active
Project
Active
Finance for resilience: Priority action area

CDKN’s Finance for Resilience priority area promotes flexible, inclusive and locally led financing systems that enable communities, institutions, and ecosystems to prepare for, adapt to, and transform in the face of climate risks.