20th International Conference on Community-Based Adaptation to Climate Change (CBA20)

For over 30 years, the SDI Network has demonstrated that organised communities, in partnership with local government and with the right resources placed directly in their hands, can lead their own settlement upgrading.

This is the foundation of locally-led Climate Adaptation.

Slum upgrading is Climate Action

Upgrading informal settlements, through sustainable housing, resilient infrastructure, and tenure security, directly addresses structural conditions which make us disproportionately vulnerable to extreme heat, flooding, water scarcity and severe weather.

In-situ upgrading avoids the harms of forced evictions and displacement, while providing affordable, context-specific solutions already being demonstrated across our networks. Climate resilience and local adaptation begins with secure tenure. Donors must educate themselves of our realities and recognize that upgrading is climate action, before prescribing solutions.

Work with informality, not against it

Resilient cities, inclusive development and adaptation goals cannot be achieved without engaging the realities of informal settlements. Governing officials must recognize that slum dwellers are not a barrier to achieving adaptation goals, we are integral to its success!

Agreed metrics to track the Global Goal on Adaptation must include informal settlements as priority sites of climate intervention and must respect the agency and leadership of local residents.

Institutionalise community knowledge and data

Our data and experience are valid and necessary inputs for better climate models and climate action planning, as well as scientific processes such as IPCC assessments. Our slum dweller federations gather detailed co-produced data and evidence on risks, vulnerabilities and solutions, mapping climate impacts while addressing critical data gaps overlooked by formal systems. This knowledge must be institutionalised in adaptation planning, early warning systems and global monitoring processes.

Channel climate finance directly to the ground

Climate finance must be flexible, accessible to community led organisations and aligned with local development priorities. Current restrictions and topdown mechanisms prevent resources from reaching marginalised communities such as women, the youth and people living with disabilities who are already taking action with their own scarce resources.

International actors also overlook the impact of local savings and loans schemes, such as SDI’s Urban Poor Funds and savings groups, and other community managed funds which play a critical role in supporting resilience and climate action in informal settlements. Finance must support fundamentals such as dignified housing, basic services, and tenure security while applying the principles of locally led adaptation to scale solutions and strengthen resilience. The costs of inaction are far higher than the costs of proactive investment.