SB62 side event summary

Financing Locally Led Climate Solutions 

On 25 June 2025, WWF Netherlands, Fundación Avina, Slum Dwellers International (SDI), and SouthSouthNorth (SSN), all part of the VCA programme, came together at the Bonn Climate Conference (SB62) to discuss a crucial challenge: the persistent gap between global climate finance commitments and the realities of frontline communities. 

Global climate finance hit a record $1.9 trillion in 2023. Yet beneath that headline, the picture is far less equitable. Public climate finance declined by 8% from 2022 to 2023. And less than 10% of all climate finance reaches local actors, an even smaller fraction (around 1% or less) supports Indigenous Peoples and feminist organisations. 

This session in Bonn posed tough questions: How can we bridge this gap? How can small grants and locally led funding models empower communities and deliver more just, effective adaptation?

Why Locally Led Matters 

Dr. Beth Chitekwe-Biti of Slum Dwellers International described the power of micro-grants: small, direct investments that don’t need to be repaid but instead act as catalysts for sustainable, community-led solutions. In Zimbabwe, for example, SDI affiliates have established a $600,000 fund through contributions from cities and communities. In Namibia, a $6.25 million fund has supported the construction of 30,000 houses. 

What makes these funds work? They are designed from the bottom up, using local savings groups and federated structures to scale. As Beth put it: “The biggest risk is doing nothing, or acting wrongly. Community-led mechanisms reduce risk by tapping into local trust and understanding.” 

The Next Level Grant Facility (NLGF) 

Laura López of WWF Netherlands shared how the VCA programme is putting these ideas into practice across seven countries. Nearly half (49%) of its funds go directly to grassroots and local civil society organisations, working with over 215 local partners. 

A key component of this initiative is the Next Level Grant Facility (NLGF), a €3.5 million small-grant mechanism specifically designed in collaboration with local fund managers in each country. The NLGF offers flexible, locally tailored approaches, such as emergency grants that can be approved within 48 hours to respond to crises, ranging from protecting environmental activists to pollution clean-ups. 

Applications can even be submitted via WhatsApp or video in some contexts, ensuring accessibility. So far, the facility has distributed over 100 emergency grants and supported more than 150 locally led solutions. 

The lesson is clear: localisation is not only possible, but it can also be highly accountable, if funders are willing to trust local partners and design for flexibility. 

Bridging Knowledge Gaps 

Paz Gonzalez from Fundación Avina discussed the BASE initiative, which helps local communities access climate funding by valuing their knowledge. 

Often, communities hold invaluable traditional and local knowledge that rarely gets recognised in formal funding processes. By helping communities document and integrate this knowledge with scientific data, funders can strengthen proposals and ensure solutions are designed on local terms. 

She shared how, in northern Argentina, understanding literacy levels and traditional beliefs was crucial to designing effective and appropriate projects. The message was clear: flexibility and trust are essential. Donors cannot force communities into rigid timelines and formats. 

Funding as a Test of System Integrity 

Isatis M. Cintron Rodriguez, of Columbia University’s ACE Observatory, argued that community access is not just a moral imperative, but a test of whether climate finance systems work. 

She outlined key principles for funders: subsidiarity (making decisions as close to the community level as possible), convergence (coordination across donors), robust local decision-making, flexibility in processes, and predictable, long-term funding. 

She also highlighted that communities are not homogeneous. Participatory approaches are crucial for ensuring fair distribution, particularly for Indigenous Peoples, women, youth, and farmers. 

Rethinking the Role of NGOs 

The event also tackled the question of intermediaries. Larger NGOs can be barriers if they introduce complexity and cost. But they can also be bridges. 

Good intermediaries simplify applications, build local capacity, ensure transparency about costs and decisions, and support genuine, equitable partnerships. Rather than controlling, they enable.

Have a look at some of the impressions from the VCA alliance:

Key Takeaways on the Road to COP30 

As the world prepares for COP30 in Brazil, this discussion in Bonn underscored some vital lessons. 

Firstly, private-sector finance isn’t a substitute for public climate finance. History shows it can be inconsistent and inadequate for the scale of adaptation needed. While more ambitious pledges are crucial, we also need action-oriented design that truly enables local access, and funding mechanisms must be flexible, community-friendly, and trust-based. 

This is where initiatives like the Next Level Grant Facility (NLGF) provide real, transferable lessons. By partnering with local fund managers, simplifying applications, supporting capacity-building, and offering rapid-response emergency funding, NLGF is demonstrating that localisation is not only possible but can be accountable, fast, and tailored to context. 

Crucially, these lessons are directly relevant to the design of larger climate funds, including the Loss and Damage Fund and other multilateral finance mechanisms. As Isatis M. Cintron Rodriguez emphasised in Bonn, community access isn’t just a moral obligation; it’s a litmus test for whether climate finance systems work at all. If funds can’t reach the local level, they’re failing the very people on the front lines of climate impacts and solutions. 

The NLGF shows that community-led access models can work, even in diverse political and regulatory contexts, if funders are willing to prioritise subsidiarity, flexibility, and local knowledge. As climate funds scale up, they have an opportunity to adopt and adapt these proven approaches, to design access windows, funding envelopes, or dedicated mechanisms that truly put resources into the hands of local communities. 

Ultimately, for climate finance to have a real, lasting impact, it must: 

• Prioritise direct, local, and community access through flexible, trusted mechanisms. 
• Invest in capacity-building to empower communities to plan, implement, and effectively apply initiatives. 
• Provide predictable, long-term funding streams that communities can trust. 
• Recognise local and traditional knowledge as legitimate climate evidence. 
• Build partnerships based on trust, transparency, and local leadership. 

Because only through these kinds of locally led approaches, proven through facilities like the NLGF, can we move towards a world where humanity and nature truly thrive together. 

Speakers (from left to right):  

• Bob Aston, Project Officer, Arid Lands Information Network 
• Laura Lopez, WWF Netherlands, Inclusive Conservation Lead & Program Manager VCA  
• Paz Gonzalez, Fundación Avina, Climate Programmatic Coordinator  
• Maheen Khan, WWF-NL, Senior Advisor International Climate Resilience (Moderator) 
• Dr. Beth Chitekwe-Biti, Slum Dwellers International NPC  
• Charlotte Scott, Global Learning and Engagement Manager VCA
• Isatis M. Cintron Rodriquez, Director of the ACE Observatory and Climate Justice Postdoctoral Researcher at Columbia University.