Linking Communities to Climate Change Financing through Small Grants Support

Pacific Island countries are extremely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and need to access external sources of financing to support climate change adaptation projects. Yet local communities and NGOs face significant obstacles in accessing the funding needed to support community-driven adaptation projects. The landscape of international climate finance is complex, and funders’ requirements are often opaque. While local communities and organizations understand the challenges of climate change and what they must do to adapt, they are often not able to “speak the language” of funders. To address these issues, the DT Global-implemented USAID Climate Ready project has implemented a capacity enhancement and mentoring program that has empowered numerous local organizations to access project funding through small grants programs. Climate Ready’s CLA-driven approach embodies theories of change, pause and reflect, adaptive management, relationships and networks, and continuous learning and improvement. Climate Ready’s approach has built permanent capacity, and has created an enduring legacy of Pacific-centric resources that will continue to help communities and local organizations well into the future.