The 20th International Conference on Community-Based Adaptation to Climate Change (CBA20) aims to bring together practitioners across the adaptation community to share lessons and explore how to put the principles for locally led adaptation into practice.

Hosted by the International Institute for Environment and Development, CBA20 will take place in Manila from 11-14 May 2026. You can find out more about CBA20 on the IIED website.

Hear from the Alliance at CBA sessions

Colleagues from the Zurich Climate Resilience Alliance, including representatives from Concern Worldwide, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Mercy Corps, Plan International and Practical Action will be in attendance to share insights on locally-led adaptation. See the details below for more about CBA sessions featuring Alliance members:

All times in ICT (UTC +7 hours)

From classrooms to communities: youth, schools and knowledge systems in locally led adaptation
Monday 11th May
11:30-12:30, Monet Ballroom 2

With contributions from Alliance colleagues at Plan International, this session will draw upon experiences from Asia Pacific, the Solomon Islands and Kenya to explore how education systems, communities, and intermediary organisations co-produce, translate and sustain climate knowledge for locally led adaptation.

Funding locally led adaptation: power, knowledge and practice from the ground
Monday 11th May
13:30-15:00, Monet Ballroom 2

This learning journey session will explore the question of “what needs to change in funding systems to enable locally led adaptation?”. As part of the session, Dharam Raj Uprety will reflect on Practical Action’s experience of parametric insurance as a mechanism that can support anticipatory and community-based adaptation in Nepal.

Who decides what counts and matters in locally led adaptation? Indicators, emerging technologies and local knowledge
Tuesday 12th May
13:30-15:00, Monet Ballroom 2

The Alliance is a co-organizer of this session exploring how the knowledge nexus – spanning local, Indigenous, scientific and experiential knowledge – shapes locally led adaptation.

Heat, health and dignity: urban heat stress as a systemic risk
Tuesday 12th May
13:30-15:00, Monet Ballroom 1

Join the Philippine Red Cross and others for an examination of the growing climate risk of urban heat through the lenses of public health, urban governance and structural conditions in fast-growing secondary cities and informal settlements across five distinct geographies spanning Kenya, Philippines, Ghana, NE India and Bangladesh.

Field visit to Barangay Bagong Silangan, Quezon City, Metro Manila
Wednesday 13th May
07:00-12:00

Organized by the Philippine Red Cross, this field trip aims to provide participants with a deeper understanding of the challenges faced by the community, including flooding, proximity to the Valley Fault System, fires, as well as how vulnerability varies across households.

Field visit to the Sitio Sumilang Shelter Project, Barangay San Jose, Antipolo City, Rizal
Wednesday 13th May
06:30-12:30

Organized by the Philippine Red Cross, this field trip aims to provide participants with insights into the long-term recovery challenges faced by families displaced by Typhoon Ondoy in 2009, and observe how residents collectively organised to sustain shelter, food security and basic needs.

Grand Bargain and Localization Agenda in Relation to Strengthening Locally Led Adaptation in Community Resilience Building
Wednesday 13th May
15:30-17:00, Versailles tent

Join the Zurich Climate Resilience Alliance for a panel discussion featuring representatives from Alliance members across different regions.

Developing Sectoral Guidance on Locally Led Adaptation for National Governments
Wednesday 13th May
15:30-17:00, venue to be confirmed

The Alliance and IIED are producing three sector-specific guidance notes on locally led adaptation, covering Water, Food and Agricultural Production, and Infrastructure and Human Settlements — aligned with the Global Goal on Adaptation framework agreed at COP30.

The guidance will help national governments integrate LLA principles into sectoral policies, plans, and investments with a particular focus on what genuinely locally led approaches look like in large-scale programmes.

Theme lead panel + popcorn session
Thursday 14th May
09:30-10:30, Monet Ballroom 1 and 2

Co-organised by the Philippine Red Cross, this theme-lead panel will recap key issues and messages from the sessions, and the most critical issues to take forward.

Follow the Alliance at CBA20

Keep up to date with the Alliance by following us on LinkedIn, Bluesky and X.