CLARE recognises that communities closest to climate challenges are best equipped to identify workable solutions. Supporting this, CLARE champions Southern leadership and equitable partnerships as the foundation for accelerating climate resilience by placing decision-making power in the hands of those most affected.  

This approach to climate change research and policy is increasingly important for addressing climate change. For the Global South, solutions need to be locally owned and rooted in context-specific practices to ensure they are both effective and embraced by local communities. 

The CLARE programme ensures that solutions are locally owned by working with a range of stakeholders – from communities to national governments – to develop adaptation strategies that are inclusive and sustainable. 

“Those who are bearing the brunt of climate change are those who come mostly from the South,” says Krishnee Adnarain Appadoo, from the RECOVER research project. “Southern leadership is very important because we cannot solve the climate dilemma if we do not take into consideration their perspectives.”  

Southern-led and sustainable 

Indeed, the CLARE programme operates with an overall ethos and assumption that Southern-led research, and the uptake of that knowledge, is more likely to have an impact on policy and practice in Southern countries. 

According to Grace Oloukoi, from the PALM-TREES project, locally owned adaptation strategies are more likely to be sustainable, unlike when strategies are brought in from elsewhere. 

“You can only control what you own. When the community is part of a project from the inception, and they are integrated into all the ideas, they are likely to support it. They are likely to own it, and they are likely to make it sustainable,” she says. 

CLARE’s emphasis on Southern leadership shifts the research focus from top-down, external models to solutions rooted in the lived experiences and local expertise of those on the front lines of climate change. By empowering researchers in the Global South to lead, CLARE ensures that adaptation strategies are not only scientifically sound but also socially inclusive, contextually relevant, and more likely to achieve long-term sustainability in the regions most affected. 

Learn more about how CLARE champions Southern leadership to drive sustainable, inclusive climate solutions: