The Adaptation Fund (AF) launched the Adaptation Fund Climate Innovation Accelerator (AFCIA) in 2019 to promote locally led climate adaptation innovation in developing countries. In 2020, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) were selected to implement two US$5 million AFCIA programmes. In 2021, the European Union contributed €10 million to the UNDP-AFCIA programme, which operates within the Adaptation Innovation Marketplace (AIM). AIM is a multi-partner platform designed to scale up adaptation efforts at the local level, engaging civil society, governments, NGOs, Indigenous groups, entrepreneurs, youth, and women-led enterprises. It aggregates resources and technical support to improve access to climate adaptation finance.
UNDP-AFCIA supports not-for-profit entities such as NGOs, civil society organizations, business member organizations, cooperatives, and community-based groups to test and accelerate locally led adaptation solutions. Meanwhile, UNEP delivers the programme through technological mechanisms under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), supporting governments to achieve national-level impact. By 2024, the programme expanded to include the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the World Food Programme (WFP), further broadening its reach and ensuring resilience against climate change across the Global South.
The programme has demonstrated strong impact, with 59 percent of UNDP-AFCIA initiatives now generating revenue and shifting from grant dependence to earned income. Fourteen percent of initiatives created entirely new markets or value chains, and 9 percent demonstrated the feasibility of innovative products, services, or models. These outcomes highlight the programme’s ability to foster experimentation and lay the foundation for future growth and market development. UNDP-AFCIA also addresses gaps in private sector funding, helping initiatives access multilateral funding while connecting local actors with donors, financial institutions, the private sector, and academia to bridge the “missing middle” in climate finance.
To strengthen financial sustainability and scaling, UNDP-AFCIA partnered with the Global Resilience Partnership in 2022 to launch a joint MBA school initiative. This programme connected local partners with business students from leading institutions such as Yale, Oxford, University of Cape Town, and others within the Global Network for Advanced Management (GNAM). Students contributed to refining business models, scaling strategies, market identification, and impact reporting, directly supporting 70 initiatives between 2023 and 2025. Universities also provided “safe spaces” for collaboration between multilateral agencies, financial actors, and academics to address financing challenges for small-scale initiatives.
Early outcomes of this technical assistance mechanism include growing collaboration between development agencies and funding partners to explore new finance instruments, such as concessional loans, to supplement traditional grant funding. This dialogue has helped develop pathways to improve access to blended finance, attracting private capital and potentially scaling climate adaptation efforts across the Global South.
The report emphasizes lessons learned from UNDP-AFCIA’s work, including the importance of building strong enabling environments, fostering local engagement, and ensuring long-term sustainability and scalability. By reflecting on these insights, stakeholders can refine strategies, enhance impact, and design more inclusive and effective climate adaptation initiatives, ultimately strengthening the resilience of vulnerable communities worldwide.
