Climate change exposes local community’s vulnerability during heavy flooding. Lacking resources and capacity to deal with climate changes adverse effects, flooding can cripple a local community’s economy, destroy its infrastructure, and affect the general health of its people. LoCal’s Performance Based Climate Resilient Grant (PBCR) works to empower local communities by building local capacity and ensuring local needs are met through well-structured sustainable local planning. One successful initiative of Local’s PBCR has been the building of a climate-proof road.

The pictures above and below show the effects of the flood and illustrate the newly built climate proof road constructed above the flood level thereby allowing normal community transport to continue during the flooding period. The climate proof road highlights the importance and necessity of local community involvement in the developing and planning process in order to adequately assess local challenges and needs in building a sustainable future.

“To invest any infrastructure by ignoring proper climate-proof concepts would be considered as regretful intervention, because we will waste not only money but also could not help local community to adapt their lives to climate change issues ”.

Photo above: LoCal Climate-Proof Road, constructed on November, 2012 - Elevated on a lenght of 1,130m. Co-financed through PBCR grant and commune fund with a total cost of 26,207.28 USD.

Article written by Kosal Sar with Gregory Welosinski of UNCDF - LoCAL Project. Photos by Chanthan Kong - NCDDS. For more information, please visit: www.local-uncdf.org