Mozambique is both one of the poorest countries and one with the highest level of vulnerability to multiple potential consequences of climate change, including drought, flood, sea level rise and increased frequency and severity of tropical cyclones – making it a natural candidate for inclusion in the Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR), which aims to help poorer countries to integrate climate change response into their national development processes. This article examines the process of prioritising investments under the PPCR in Mozambique, and asks to what extent this process has demonstrated the ‘country ownership’ and ‘broad participation’ which the PPCR claims to promote. It particularly focuses on the coastal cities component of the programme, and the question of whether the opposition‐controlled port city of Beira should receive priority in PPCR investments.