Adaptation Fund Climate Innovation Accelerator Impact Report 2020-2025

The UNDP-Adaptation Fund Climate Innovation Accelerator (AFCIA) Impact Report captures five years of locally led innovation, community leadership and resilience-building across the Global South. Since 2020, UNDP-AFCIA has supported 44 locally rooted initiatives in 33 countries with US$8.3 million in grants and an additional $6 million in technical assistance, reaching more than 2.6 million people.

This report showcases how small, flexible grants—paired with technical support, business coaching and investment brokering—can unlock powerful change. 59 percent of supported organizations now generate revenue, 14 percent created entirely new markets and many turned early-stage ideas into viable models for scale. Communities restored over 29,000 hectares of land, improved livelihoods for more than 21,700 households, piloted 12 new climate innovations—from Indigenous seed banks to floating farms.

The stories and lessons captured here underline a core truth: sustainable adaptation happens when local people lead. Women, Indigenous groups, youth entrepreneurs and cooperatives drive the solutions, blending traditional knowledge with new technologies, from digital fisheries platforms to picture-based insurance for smallholder farmers. The report also highlights a growing ecosystem around adaptation innovation. Partnerships with the Adaptation Fund, the European Union, universities, accelerators and financial institutions help bridge the “missing middle” in climate finance, offering a pathway toward future blended finance solutions.

As climate impacts intensify, the insights from UNDP-AFCIA offer practical guidance for designing adaptation efforts that are inclusive, replicable and scalable. This report invites governments, donors, investors and practitioners to learn from the communities leading the way toward resilient, sustainable futures. 

This report is complemented by the AFCIA Impact Report published by the United Nations Environment Programme – Climate Technology Centre and Network (UNEP-CTCN), which highlights additional innovations, lessons and results emerging from the broader AFCIA partnership. Taken together, these reports offer a full view of how AFCIA is accelerating climate adaptation across the Global South.