Debating Independence, Credibility & Use of Climate Change Evaluations

Not very often do we talk about independence, credibility and use as challenges of climate change evaluation. Does this in any way suggest that there are no issues of independence, credibility and use of climate change evaluations? I bet no. But what are they?

Right now, the Evaluation Office of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), local partners in Brazil and other international organizations as well as regional and international evaluation associations are meeting in Sao Paolo to brainstorm over innovative solutions to general evaluation challenges linked to independence, credibility and use. We would be updating you as the conference goes on. And we would be sharing with you in the weeks ahead, videos from major stakeholders in evaluation.

But while it is such a crucial conversation towards mainstreaming evaluation into the development culture of developing countries, let us narrow the conversation to climate change evaluation - our area of focus. Previous studies commissioned by Climate-Eval have already idendified major challenges linked to definition of climate adaptation and establishing causality just to name a few. Besides these, climate evaluators are struggling every day not only to eliminate baises and other individual and collective prejudices that might tamper with the independence of their work, they are also trying to build strong and robust evidence that can be used to formulate effective climate change policies and determine the worth of interventions.

Let us get down to some specifics: would you share with us your challenges linked to independence, credibility and use. But most importantly, what are some innovative tips and measures that you are employing to overcome these challenges in your work.