Report on the Adaptation and Resilience Fund and its Contribution to Sustainable Development Goals

Executive Summary

A collaborative philanthropic initiative has launched the Adaptation and Resilience (A&R) Fund, committing over $50 million to finance locally-led climate adaptation solutions. This report details the fund’s objectives, its strategic alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and its operational focus. The A&R Fund, led by ClimateWorks Foundation in partnership with the Howden Foundation, Laudes Foundation, Quadrature Climate Foundation, and The Rockefeller Foundation, aims to bolster community resilience against climate risks such as extreme heat, floods, and droughts, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. This initiative represents a significant multi-stakeholder partnership (SDG 17) to advance global climate action (SDG 13) and promote sustainable, equitable development.

Fund Objectives and Strategic Focus

The A&R Fund is designed to address critical gaps in climate finance by directing resources to community-level projects. The primary objectives are to enhance climate resilience, mitigate adverse economic impacts, and safeguard vulnerable populations.

Key Strategic Pillars

• Locally-Led Solutions: Prioritizing projects designed and implemented by local communities to ensure relevance and effectiveness.
• Targeted Geographies: Initial grants will focus on urban areas in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa, regions highly susceptible to climate impacts.
• Innovative Approaches: Supporting a range of solutions from early warning systems to novel financial instruments that protect against climate shocks.
• Addressing Extreme Heat: The fund directly responds to the UN Secretary-General’s Call to Action on Extreme Heat, a critical health and economic threat to over 2.4 billion people.

Alignment with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

The A&R Fund’s mission and operational strategy are intrinsically linked to several key SDGs, demonstrating a holistic approach to climate action and sustainable development.

SDG 13: Climate Action

The fund’s entire mandate is a direct contribution to SDG 13. It addresses the chronic underfunding of climate adaptation, which currently receives only 10% of the required financing in low-income nations. By investing in resilience, the fund aims to:

1. Strengthen adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards.
2. Integrate climate change measures into national and local policies and planning.
3. Improve education, awareness-raising, and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation and adaptation.

SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

The focus on urban resilience and locally-led solutions directly supports the targets of SDG 11. The initiative seeks to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable by:

• Protecting communities from escalating climate risks, particularly in urban centers.
• Supporting the implementation of early warning systems.
• Empowering local actors to build resilience from the ground up, ensuring solutions are people-centered.

SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being

By concentrating on the severe impacts of extreme heat, the fund makes a direct contribution to SDG 3. Climate change is recognized as a significant threat to public health, and the fund’s activities aim to:

• Protect human health from the impacts of extreme weather events.
• Reduce mortality and illness from environmental risks.
• Support community health systems in preparing for and responding to climate-related health emergencies.

SDG 1 & SDG 8: No Poverty & Decent Work and Economic Growth

The fund acknowledges the profound economic consequences of climate change and aims to foster economic stability, aligning with SDG 1 and SDG 8. Key contributions include:

• Easing the burden of economic impacts on vulnerable households and communities.
• Protecting economic security, supply chains, and long-term business value.
• Strengthening workers’ rights and health outcomes in the face of climate challenges.
• Highlighting the significant return on investment for adaptation, with potential yields of $2 to $42 for every dollar spent.

SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals

The A&R Fund is a model for SDG 17, demonstrating a powerful global partnership between multiple philanthropic foundations. This collaboration leverages combined resources, expertise, and networks to achieve a scale of impact that would be unattainable for a single entity. It exemplifies how philanthropy can mobilize financial resources and support technology transfer to developing countries.

Implementation and Next Steps

The A&R Fund is moving swiftly toward implementation. ClimateWorks Foundation is set to release a call for proposals for locally driven initiatives later this month. The proposals will be evaluated based on their potential to combat extreme heat and strengthen economic stability, health outcomes, and workers’ rights in low- and middle-income nations, furthering the integrated pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals.

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

• SDG 1: No Poverty – The article discusses easing the “burden of economic impacts” and strengthening “economic stability” for people in low- and middle-income countries, directly linking climate resilience to poverty reduction.
• SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being – The initiative aims to protect communities from health impacts, specifically mentioning the UN’s “Call to Action on Extreme Heat” and the goal of protecting “health outcomes.”
• SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth – The article mentions that the fund’s initiatives will aim to strengthen “economic stability, workers’ rights, and health outcomes,” connecting climate action to economic security.
• SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities – The fund specifically targets “urban areas in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa” to combat extreme heat and help cities prepare for and protect residents against extreme weather.
• SDG 13: Climate Action – This is the central theme of the article. The entire initiative, the “Adaptation and Resilience Fund (A&R Fund),” is dedicated to funding “locally led adaptation solutions” to address climate risks like “extreme heat, floods, and droughts.”
• SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals – The article describes a collaborative effort between multiple philanthropic organizations (ClimateWorks Foundation, Howden Foundation, Laudes Foundation, Quadrature Climate Foundation, and The Rockefeller Foundation) to mobilize financial resources for developing countries.

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

1. SDG 1: No Poverty

   • Target 1.5: By 2030, build the resilience of the poor and those in vulnerable situations and reduce their exposure and vulnerability to climate-related extreme events and other economic, social and environmental shocks and disasters. The article directly supports this by creating a fund to “spur community resilience in low- and middle-income geographies” and protect them from “escalating climate risks” such as floods, droughts, and extreme heat.

2. SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being

   • Target 3.d: Strengthen the capacity of all countries, in particular developing countries, for early warning, risk reduction and management of national and global health risks. The fund’s support for “early warning systems” and its focus on combating “extreme heat” to protect “people’s health” directly aligns with this target.

3. SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

   • Target 11.5: By 2030, significantly reduce the number of deaths and the number of people affected and substantially decrease the direct economic losses relative to global gross domestic product caused by disasters… with a focus on protecting the poor and people in vulnerable situations. The fund’s goal to “protect communities from escalating climate risks” and its initial grants to “combat extreme heat in urban areas” directly address this target.
   • Target 11.b: By 2020, substantially increase the number of cities and human settlements adopting and implementing integrated policies and plans towards inclusion, resource efficiency, mitigation and adaptation to climate change, resilience to disasters. The article states the fund “fills a critical need, helping cities take the steps they need to prepare for and protect their residents against extreme weather.”

4. SDG 13: Climate Action

   • Target 13.1: Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries. The article is centered on this target, with the fund’s mission being to “spark climate resilience” and support “locally led adaptation solutions” for communities facing risks like “extreme heat, floods, and droughts.”
   • Target 13.3: Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning. The fund’s support for “early warning systems” and “locally driven initiatives” contributes directly to building human and institutional capacity for climate adaptation.
   • Target 13.b: Promote mechanisms for raising capacity for effective climate change-related planning and management in least developed countries… including focusing on… local and marginalized communities. The article emphasizes that the fund will direct resources to “locally led solutions” and shift “power and resources directly to communities facing extreme heat and other climate shocks.”

5. SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals

   • Target 17.3: Mobilize additional financial resources for developing countries from multiple sources. The article describes the mobilization of “over $50 million” from a partnership of global philanthropies to support “low- and middle-income geographies.”
   • Target 17.16: Enhance the global partnership for sustainable development, complemented by multi-stakeholder partnerships that mobilize and share knowledge, expertise, technology and financial resources. The A&R Fund, a “collaborative effort from global philanthropies” including five named foundations, is a direct example of such a partnership.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

1. Financial resources mobilized: The article explicitly states the fund “will help deliver over $50 million” and notes that the broader area of climate resilience saw “over $650 million in funding in 2024.” This serves as a direct indicator for measuring financial commitments (relevant to Target 17.3).
2. Number of people protected from climate risks: The article mentions that “more than 2.4 billion people at risk of severe heat every year.” The success of the fund’s initiatives can be measured by the number of people within this vulnerable group who are supported or protected (relevant to Targets 1.5 and 11.5).
3. Implementation of adaptation solutions: The article mentions specific projects like “early warning systems” and “innovative financial tools.” The number and scale of these implemented solutions can be used as an indicator of progress (relevant to Targets 3.d and 13.3).
4. Geographic focus of interventions: The article specifies that initial grants will support efforts in “urban areas in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa.” The number of cities or communities reached in these regions is a measurable outcome (relevant to Target 11.b).
5. Economic and health outcomes: The article states the fund aims to “strengthen economic stability, workers’ rights, and health outcomes.” Progress could be measured through qualitative or quantitative assessments of these factors in the communities where projects are implemented (relevant to Targets 1.5, 3.d, and 8.5).

4. Create a table with three columns titled ‘SDGs, Targets and Indicators” to present the findings from analyzing the article.

Source: rockefellerfoundation.org