Speaker: Simon Touboul, Junior Policy Analyst, Climate adaptation and resilience team, Environment directorate (OECD). Presentation at the 1st meeting of the Working Party on Climate Change (WPCC) held at the OECD headquarters on 27-28 September, 2023.

1. Report on recent activities of the
secretariat
FOSTERING A PLACE-BASED APPROACH TO
CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION
The role of local and national governments
Simon Touboul
Working Party on
1st Working Party on Climate Change
27th September 2023, Paris

2. Working Party on Climate Change (WPCC)
Outline of the presentation
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1. Context
2. Adaptation as a local specific issue
3. Role of local & national governments in fostering
local adaptation

3. Working Party on Climate Change (WPCC)
Context of the work
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• Part of the OECD programme A Territorial Approach to Climate Action and
Resilience (TACAR)
• Follows OECD involvement in 2022 ICePP-World Bank Public Finance Conference:
“Decentralized Governance and Climate Change”
• Echoes interest of OECD Task Force on Climate Change Adaptation delegates for
multi-level governance issues

4. Working Party on Climate Change (WPCC)
Objectives of the paper
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• Claim that adaptation is local:
• Climate adaptation is local in nature (UNDP, 2023)
• EU Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change (European Commission, 2021)
• All OECD countries’ National Adaptation Plan or Strategies mention the role of local governments
• Extensive literature on the barriers to local level actions (Averchenkova et al., 2022; Zea-Reyes et al.,
2021)
• Knowledge gaps:
• Miss evidence on why is adaptation a local issue and what is the role of local governments
• Beyond local barriers to action: how can national governments foster local level action?

5. Working Party on Climate Change (WPCC)
Climate risk is local specific
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Local socio economic
characteristics
Local preparedness
Local adaptation
capacities
EXPOSURE CLIMATE RISK
Local specific climate
risks
local specific
adaptation needs
VULNERABILITY
HAZARD
Source: UNCCD Drought Toolbox

8. Working Party on Climate Change (WPCC)
Climate risk is local specific
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Local socio economic
characteristics
Local preparedness
Local infrastructure &
adaptation capacities
EXPOSURE CLIMATE RISK
Local specific climate
risks
local specific
adaptation needs
VULNERABILITY
HAZARD
Source: UNCCD Drought Toolbox

9. Working Party on Climate Change (WPCC)
The role of local governments within the
adaptation cycle
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UNDERSTANDING LOCAL CLIMATE RISKS
PLANNING LOCAL ADAPTATION
IMPLEMENTING & FINANCING LOCAL
ADAPTATION
ASSESSING PROGRESS OF LOCAL ADAPTATION
UNDERSTANDING LOCAL CLIMATE RISKS
Gather knowledge from past events
Conduct local climate risk assessment
PLANNING LOCAL ADAPTATION
Mainstream adaptation into local development plans
Develop local adaptation plans and strategies
IMPLEMENTING & FINANCING LOCAL ADAPTATION
Dedicate additional funding for adaptation
Create or upgrade local infrastructure
Apply national and update local regulations
ASSESSING PROGRESS OF LOCAL ADAPTATION
Collect information on local adaptation actions
Reporting progress to the national level

10. UNDERSTANDING LOCAL CLIMATE RISKS
Gather knowledge from past events
Conduct local climate risk assessment
PLANNING LOCAL ADAPTATION
IMPLEMENTING & FINANCING
LOCAL ADAPTATION
ASSESSING PROGRESS OF
LOCAL ADAPTATION
Working Party on Climate Change (WPCC)
Barriers to local action and role of national governments
(understanding local climate risks)
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• Downscaled forecasted climate data
• Lack skills to conduct and analyze climate
risk assessments
• Create and share climate risk data
e.g. DRIAS, Futures of Climate portal (France)
• Train local governments
• Provide guidance and toolkits
e.g. Guide to support local implementation of
NbS (Sweden)
Barriers and limits to local level action
The role of national governments

11. UNDERSTANDING LOCAL
CLIMATE RISKS
PLANNING LOCAL ADAPTATION
IMPLEMENTING & FINANCING LOCAL
ADAPTATION
Dedicate additional funding for adaptation
Create or upgrade local infrastructure
Apply national and update local regulations
ASSESSING PROGRESS OF
LOCAL ADAPTATION
Working Party on Climate Change (WPCC)
The role of local governments within the adaptation cycle
(Financing local adaptation)
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• Adaptation cost exceeds local capacities
• Limited capacity to raise financial revenue
• Review national budget allocation scheme
e.g. Prioritisation of Investment Projects (PIP)
(Slovak Republic)
• Create incentives for local investment
e.g. Allocation of 5% of cities’ budget for local
disaster-risk reduction (Philippines)
• Help localities accessing additional funding
Barriers and limits to local level action
The role of national governments

12. Working Party on Climate Change (WPCC)
Questions & discussion
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What is the role of local adaptation in your country and how does the national
government support local adaptation?
Would this be a stream of work the OECD should expand on in the future?
If yes, how would you orientate this work?

13. Report on recent activities of the
secretariat
Contacts:
OECD.Adaptation@oecd.org
http://www.oecd.org/environment/cc/climate-adaptation/
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THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION

14. Working Party on Climate Change (WPCC)
References
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• European Commission (2021), EU Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change, European Commission, Brussels, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-
content/EN/TXT/?uri=COM:2021:82:FIN (accessed on 13 July 2022).
• UNDP (2023), Adaptation is local in nature, UNDP, https://www.undp.org/blog/adaptation-local-nature (accessed on 12 September 2023).
• Ministère de la Transition Écologique (2023), DRIAS - Les futurs du climat, http://www.drias-
climat.fr/decouverte/cartezoom/experience/EUROCORDEX2020_DISTRIBUTION_ELAB/Q05/RCP4.5/RCP4.5/H2/APAV/APAV/A1 (accessed on 27
March 2023).
• Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic (2021), Prioritization of investment projects, Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic,
https://www.minzp.sk/iep/strategicke-materialy/priorizacia-investicnych-projektov-rezorte-ministerstva-zivotneho-prostredia-sr.html (accessed on
15 May 2023).
• OECD (2023), Adaptation measurement: Assessing municipal climate risks to inform adaptation policy in the Slovak Republic, OECD Publishing,
Paris.
• Philippines National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (2013), Allocation and utilization of the local disaster risk reduction and
management fund (LDRRMF), Joint Memorandum Circular No. 2013-1, https://preparecenter.org/wp-content/sites/default/files/JMC2013-1.pdf
(accessed on 9 May 2023).
• Swedish EPA (2022), Nature-based solutions: A tool for climate adaptation and other societal challenges, Swedish Environmental Protection
Agency, Stockholm, https://www.naturvardsverket.se/om-oss/publikationer/7000/978-91-620-7074-8/ (accessed on 29 March 2023).

15. Working Party on Climate Change (WPCC)
Adaptation remains a shared responsibility
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Barriers and limits to local level actions
Local authorities lack resources
Local adaptation is embedded in a local and national context
Lack of technical capacities
• Downscaled forecasted climate data
• Skills to plan, implement and maintain adaptation
measures
Lack of financial resources
• Adaptation cost exceeds local capacities
• Limited capacity to raise their own revenue
National regulation frame local level action
• Lack of mandate and unclear responsibilities
• Conflict with other local priorities and
objectives
Spillover effects of local climate impacts and
adaptation
National governments impact local resilience

16. Working Party on Climate Change (WPCC)
Adaptation remains a shared responsibility
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The role of national governments in fostering local action
Overcoming local resource constraints
Ensuring effective and coordinated local level action
Technical capacities
• Create and share local relevant information
• Train and raise local stakeholder awareness
Financial resources
• Review national budget allocation scheme
• Create incentives for local investment
• Help localities accessing additional funding
Guide and coordinate local actions
• Downscaled roles in and implementation of
adaptation
• Provide guidance and toolkits
• Create or design entities to coordinate local action
Update national regulation
• Clarify responsibilities for adaptation action
• Standardise a national wide monitoring and
evaluation system