Scoping Study on Evaluation of Natural Resource Management Interventions linked to Climate Change

The Scoping Study on Evaluation on Natural Resource Management (NRM) Interventions linked to climate change was carried out by the Independent Evaluation Office of the Global Environment Facility (GEF IEO) on behalf of the Climate-Eval community of practice.

The study provides an overview of the current methodological challenges in evaluation of NRM interventions that involve climate change aspects. It does so by analyzing the typology and design of evaluations, the issues of time horizon and spatial scale pertinent to such interventions, the issues of M&E systems quality and data quality and credibility, the issues of valuation of natural resources, and evaluation utilization.

The study also identifies some opportunities to strengthen evaluation methodologies, including the use of the theory of change approach, mixed methods, and retrospective case studies that offer another way of understanding complex cause-and-effect relationships, as well as identification of adaptations made by stakeholders that had not been anticipated in the design stage.

This study was prepared in collaboration with the Climate-Eval members and was discussed during the Second International Conference on Evaluating Climate Change and Development in Washington, DC.