Registration opens for landmark CBA20 in Manila
Registration is now open for the 20th International Conference on Community-Based Adaptation to Climate Change (CBA20), which will take place from 11-14 May 2026 in Manila, Philippines.
Field visits take place during CBA19 in Recife, Brazil. Another series of planned community visits will be a highlight of this year's event in Manila (Photo: Hephzibah Osinubi, IIED)
Marking two decades of global exchange and action on locally-led climate adaptation, CBA20 represents an important milestone for the CBA community.
Since its inception, the conference series has created a unique space for practitioners, policymakers, researchers and community leaders to share lived experience, strengthen partnerships and influence adaptation policy and practice.
Over 20 years, CBA has helped shape global conversations on resilience by centring the priorities of climate-vulnerable communities.
And places for the latest conference, which will include a day of community visits in the Metro Manila area, are now available.
CBA20 will be delivered in close collaboration with Philippine partners, ensuring that local knowledge and leadership are embedded throughout the programme.
From shaping the thematic focus to organising the community visits, local partners are playing a central role in curating a conference that reflects both global learning and place-based experience.
The dedicated day of community and project visits will enable participants to engage directly with locally led adaptation initiatives and exchange knowledge with practitioners on the ground.
This year’s conference will focus on three core themes:
- Achieving just and equitable adaptation in urban areas - with particular attention to informal settlement communities
- Scaling local-level health investments as a critical adaptation response in the context of rising temperatures and escalating climate threats, and
- Strengthening the ‘knowledge nexus’ by combining local, traditional and Indigenous Peoples’ knowledge systems with climate science to drive adaptation decision-making.
Finance, gender, decolonisation and equity will cut across all discussions.
In its 20th year, the conference will also provide space for reflection. The final day will bring participants together through interactive sessions to consider how community-based adaptation has evolved over the past two decades – and what must happen next to accelerate progress in an era of intensifying climate impacts.
With global adaptation needs rising and the urgency of climate justice clearer than ever, CBA20 promises to be a landmark gathering – both a celebration of 20 years of progress and a catalyst for the next phase of community-led climate action.
About the organisers
CBA20 was co-hosted by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), Manila Observatory and Philippine Action for Community-Led Shelter Initiatives, Inc (PACSII), with funding from Adaptation Fund, Adaptation Research Alliance, Asian Development Bank, Climate Justice Resilience Fund (CJRF), International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Mercy Corps, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, Zurich Climate Resilience Alliance and with UK International Development from the UK government. With support from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the Philippine Red Cross and TEBTEBBA (Indigenous Peoples’ International Centre for Policy Research and Education).
Contact
If you have any questions about the conference or about registration, please email [email protected].
