by Friendship News Desk,
27 May, 2025
The 19th International Conference on Community-Based Adaptation to Climate Change (CBA19) was held in Recife, Brazil from 12-16 May 2025. The event served as a lead-up to the upcoming COP30 in Belem, Brazil.
Held for the first time in South America, CBA focused on putting the principles of locally-led adaptation (LLA) into practice. Participants shared ideas, validated concepts, raised concerns, and explored tactical and financial challenges in sustainable adaptation. Kazi Amdadul Haque, Senior Director and Head of Climate Action, and Stéphane Van Haute from Friendship Luxembourg attended CBA19 as Friendship delegates in three sessions at the event.
Session 2C: Financing for locally led nature-based adaptation (bridging investment, communities and policy)
In this session, NGOs and civil society shared community-focused experiences from Latin America, Africa, and South Asia. While service delivery and donor dynamics often cause frustration, the platform fostered support and ideas for improvement.
Kazi Amdad highlighted that a lack of proactive local government measures can hinder climate action. Recognising the varied capacities of different stakeholders, he pointed out the need for informed, inclusive funding that empowers communities to decide how best to use their resources. He prioritised the need for predictable funding, i.e. projecting community crisis and ensuring adequate funding, based on Friendship’s direct field experience with its CIDRR (Community Initiated Disaster Risk Reduction) project.
In this initiative, supported by the Government of Luxembourg, communities assess their situation and evaluate their actions themselves. Diverse groups, from children to the elderly, illiterate, or disabled individuals, can participate using their own non-traditional, simplified methods. It has been a strong demonstration of localisation in practice over the last ten years.
Session 4A: Alternative Financial Mechanisms to Promote Inclusion and Action at the Community Level
This session used Friendship’s ‘Reversing the Flow’ (RtF) project as a case study to explain how communities can successfully navigate adaptable solutions independently with confidence, self-esteem, and enhanced capacity.
Funded by the Dutch organisation RVO, RtF engages 20 remote char island communities in Gaibandha. Community Implementation Committees (CICs) from these villages conduct needs assessments, implement projects, and manage their funds. A Steering Committee (SC) of village representatives review CIC proposals to ensure a democratic process. Funds are transferred directly to the community account, with Friendship stepping in only for training or facilitation when needed. They independently select leaders and implement projects on landscaping, water security, and livelihoods. They also decide which projects to defer, share or cancel among themselves.
Session 6C: Mangroves’ superpowers for LLA – a cross-learning session across three continents for communities’ resilience
This session featured mangrove restoration efforts from Bangladesh, Brazil, Ghana, and Indonesia. Kazi Amdad shared that mangrove interventions should go beyond plantations to include holistic coastal development that protects communities from climate threats like tidal surges and cyclones.
Friendship’s community-led mangrove afforestation project is a good example. Locals, mostly women, handle everything from land mapping to nursery management. Trained to lead the project, recruit others, and run livelihood initiatives, these communities have also partnered with the local government and the Bangladesh Forest Department to design and advance mangrove restoration—an exemplary model of locally-led adaptation.
CBA recognises that climate impacts are global, not country-specific. It is vital to highlight initiatives grounded in local realities worldwide. Projects like CIDRR, RtF, and Friendship’s mangrove afforestation exemplify community-led action supported by locally managed funding and decision-making.
