What information should be included in adaptation actions?

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Adaptation actions should be SMART and include:

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Women and marginalised groups experience acute and differential impacts of hazards.
It is important to consider women and marginalised people as a distinct group with unique needs as well as members of the larger group.

Each action should be accompanied by a detailed description of its co-benefits. This is to support local governments with ‘making the case’ for why the action should be prioritised in the (unlikely) event that climate change considerations are removed.
Detail on synergies of the action with other work that the local government is undertaking as well as relevant national plans and legislation should be included.
Detail on potential trade-offs associated with the action should also be included (e.g.: what extra cost/challenges they might present).

Given that there will likely be a significant number of adaptation actions included for each sectoral target in order to enhance their resilience to the impacts of climate change, a SEACAP should include an indication of which actions are considered to be an absolute priority and why.
This can be based on:
- The local government’s development aspirations
- Economic and social benefits that may arise from the actions
- Work that the local government has already committed to in its internal development planning
- Actions that have the most synergies and co-benefits

What is needed to support the implementation of adaptation actions?

Once adaptation actions are identified, the SEACAP should provide an overview of how they are to be implemented.

This includes providing information, where possible, of:

Anticipated timeframe (estimate only)
Means of implementation (i.e. a breakdown of key activities required)
Stakeholders that should be involved in and kept informed of the action implementation
What different stakeholders need to effectively play their role in implementation
Potential implementing agencies
Anticipated cost (estimate only)
Financial strategy required to access funds
Policies that can support the action implementation/access to funding

What kind of implementation and monitoring plan is needed to ensure the actions’ success?

The final component of the SEACAP should include a detailed overview of how monitoring of the implementation of the actions will be undertaken.
This usually takes the form of monitoring reports which typically include detail on the actual implementation status and cost for each of the actions (see Module 8 for more detail on monitoring and reporting).
The SEACAP should also provide detail on the frequency with which monitoring reports will be submitted to global reporting entities (CoM SSA Helpdesk or CDP-ICLEI). This is usually every two years to allow time for implementation.

CoM SSA Sustainable Energy Access and Climate Action Plan (SEACAP) course