Sejal Patel

Sejal Patel is an environmental economist and senior researcher at the International Institute for Environment and Development. With over 10 years of experience, her work focuses on climate and environment finance, public policy, and governance, particularly in relation to low-carbon climate-resilient development, and on the themes of supporting inclusive and equitable processes that bridge local priorities and voices with the national and international levels.

CRPP Talks 1: Scaling Up Locally Led Climate Action

While local communities are on the frontlines of climate impacts, they typically lack a voice in the decisions that affect them. The International Institute for Environment and Development estimates that less than 10% of international climate finance gets earmarked for local-level action. There are growing calls by countries, civil society, and many other stakeholders to improve both the quantity and quality of climate finance.

Insight Thursday: Building Community Resilience Through National Climate Funds

This session explored how creating “community windows” within national climate funds was a key strategy for delivering locally owned investments. Interestingly, ADB developing member countries were keen on establishing specific finance vehicles to invest in their resilience and development goals, to enable increased finance mobilization, greater coordination, and support programmatic approaches.