The Adaptation and Resilience Fund is a bold philanthropic commitment to accelerate solutions that build resilience to climate change in low- and middle-income countries.
ClimateWorks Foundation, in partnership with a coalition of global foundations, including Howden Foundation, Laudes Foundation, Quadrature Climate Foundation, and The Rockefeller Foundation, has launched the Adaptation and Resilience Fund (A&R Fund) to support locally led efforts that reduce climate risk and strengthen community well-being. From early warning systems to innovative finance tools, the A&R Fund directs capital where it’s most needed: communities on the frontlines of climate impacts.
The Adaptation & Resilience Fund is designed to tackle some of the most pressing challenges of a changing climate. The Fund brings together philanthropic funding and expertise to address multiple climate hazards, and accelerate and catalyze systems transformation to support people facing the greatest climate impacts. In response to the United Nations secretary-general’s urgent July 25 Call to Action on Extreme Heat, the fund’s first wave of grants will focus on helping cities and communities build resilience to extreme heat in urban areas in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa, prioritizing cities with high levels of informal labor and housing, inward migration pressure, and exposure to extreme heat. With nearly two-thirds of the global workforce employed in the informal economy – often outdoors and without social safety nets – communities around the world already face health risks, economic hardship, and social inequities, all of which are exacerbated by exposure to extreme heat. The A&R Fund will support locally-driven solutions that protect people, strengthen systems, and create pathways for a more resilient future, focusing on four pillars:
