As the impacts of a warming world worsen year on year, those who have contributed the least to climate change suffer its worst impacts. Adaptation needs dwarf available funding by a factor of 5-10, making it critical that every dollar is spent where it has the greatest impact. Ground Truth Solutions' work in Bangladesh with IIED and ICCCAD shows a significant gap between existing climate assistance and the most acutely-felt needs and priorities of affected communities. People on the front lines of the climate emergency report that climate adaptation assistance is unfair, insufficient and that they feel unable to influence it.

Our research shows that while those delivering climate adaptation support claim to put the needs and priorities of affected communities front and centre, we are falling far short in practice, with urgently-needed assistance often failing to meet the priorities of communities on the front lines of the climate crisis. Our expert panellists will give an overview of the current state of community engagement in adaptation programming - including the results of our work with frontline communities in Bangladesh - and opportunities they see for adaptation actors to build more responsive and effective adaptation efforts.

Speakers include:

Meg Sattler - CEO, Ground Truth Solutions

Aditya Bahadur - Principal Researcher, IIED

Michael Nkonu - Program Manager and Adaptatio Lead, Open Society Foundations

Frontline communities in the lead of climate adaptation