Monitoring and evaluation is critical to determine if adaptation actions achieve their objectives. It shows which interventions lead to desired results and helps secure funding. M&E frameworks should use qualitative, quantitative, and binary indicators to evaluate effectiveness, equity, and efficiency over time. Robust M&E ensures adaptation benefits are realized and helps improve future interventions.

1. Training for Adaptation
Evaluating Adaptation:
Monitoring and Evaluation

2. Process Stage 4
Evaluating Adaptation: Monitoring and Evaluation
Evaluating Strategies and Measures
This module provides an introduction to evaluating adaptation strategies and measures and covers the
following:
• The value of monitoring and evaluation processes
• How to critically evaluate adaptation actions
Climate Adaptation
C.Aall & D.Davies, 2012
Online Training Resource

3. Process Stage 4
Evaluating Adaptation: Monitoring and Evaluation
Monitoring and evaluation
Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) is critical if any understanding of if and how adaptations have achieved
their objectives. This is particularly important in the new field of adaptation to climate change, where
actions are still being defined and tested.
Showing which adaptation interventions lead to desired results is important in securing
funding, since financial resources are being made available specifically for adaptation
measures and funders want proof of how they enable adaptation.
Ilona Porsché, GIZ India, and Heather McGray, World Resources Institute (WRI) 2011
A goal of M&E is to determine whether the identified factors, such as an increase in biodiversity or
increased water storage capacity, are indeed resulting in greater resilience or sufficient water availability.
In the latter example it could be, for instance, that increasing storage capacity is not addressing risks
adequately if it becomes apparent that precipitation is declining in real terms and not only changing in
temporal distribution. Here it could then become necessary to broaden the approach to addressing the
climate risk of reduced water availability, for example through market mechanisms that create a demand
for less water-intensive agricultural produce.
Ilona Porsché, GIZ India, and Heather McGray, World Resources Institute (WRI) 2011
http://www.gtz.de/en/themen/umwelt-infrastruktur/umweltpolitik/34279.htm
Climate Adaptation
C.Aall & D.Davies, 2012
Online Training Resource

4. Process Stage 4
Evaluating Adaptation: Monitoring and Evaluation
Monitoring and evaluation
It is more important than ever to ensure the effectiveness, equity and efficiency of adaptation
interventions. Robust monitoring and evaluation (M&E) is an essential part of this, both to ensure that the
prospective benefits of interventions are being realised and to help improve the design of future
interventions.
M&E frameworks for adaptation should combine qualitative, quantitative and binary indicators. On their
own, any category of indicator is not enough. For instance, the development of a policy framework does
not ensure its implementation and sustainability. It therefore needs to be complemented with quantitative
indicators that for example measure the number of projects that have been developed in response to the
policy or the number of households benefitting. Qualitative indicators are needed to assess the change
brought about by the policy. Such differentiation helps clarify the relative contribution of each activity
towards the long-term objective. In some cases, surveys, focus group discussions or other means of
direct consultation with beneficiaries is needed in order to assess the level of change
(Lamhauge, Lanzi and, Agrawala, 2012)
Lamhauge, N., E. Lanzi and S. Agrawala (2012), “Monitoring and Evaluation for Adaptation:
Lessons from Development Co-operation Agencies”, OECD Environment Working
Papers, No. 38, OECD Publishing. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/5kg20mj6c2bw-en
Climate Adaptation
C.Aall & D.Davies, 2012
Online Training Resource

5. Process Stage 4
Evaluating Adaptation: Monitoring and Evaluation
Deming’s Quality Circle
Climate Adaptation
C.Aall & D.Davies, 2012
Online Training Resource

6. Process Stage 4
Evaluating Adaptation: Monitoring and Evaluation
Municipal Eco-Auditing in Norway
Category 1 External audits
– Mandatory Internal Control System applied on municipal
waste, water and sewage management with external
government audits
Category 2 State of the Environment Reports
– Non-mandatory government set-up system of presenting an
on-line State of the Environment Report (SoE)
– Non-mandatory government set-up system of sustainability
indicators
Category 3 Internal audits
– Mandatory system of internal management audits (one audit
to be conducted each year) that can comprehend parts of the
environmental policy (but very seldom they do!)
– The Eco Audit project from 1994-96 was supposed to pave
the way for non-mandatory municipal eco-auditing by means
of producing a handbook
Climate Adaptation
C.Aall & D.Davies, 2012
Online Training Resource

7. Process Stage 4
Evaluating Adaptation: Monitoring and Evaluation
Final key points
• A successful adaptation is one that achieves its goals under a changing climate.
• This will only become apparent in the longer term, usually after the project has been completed and
with the continued capacity to sustain the positive results of those actions.
• Effective M&E for adaptation can track the interim results as a basis for understanding the degree to
which climate pressures have affected the achievement and sustainability of development goals over
time.
•
Growing climatic variability and the many uncertainties associated with climate change mean that there
are limits to planning.
• The assumptions, conditions and expectations at the start of an intervention are now even more
unlikely to remain true for its duration or beyond.
• M&E can provide feedback loops to help us to be flexible, respond rapidly and adjust appropriately to
varied climatic changes, applying principles of adaptive management. All this is critical for sustainable
development – and even more so now that the climate is changing.
Ilona Porsché, GIZ India, and Heather McGray, World Resources Institute (WRI) 2011
http://www.gtz.de/en/themen/umwelt-infrastruktur/umweltpolitik/34279.htm
Climate Adaptation
C.Aall & D.Davies, 2012
Online Training Resource