Chapter 4 by Tonya Schuetz, Wiebke F€ orch, Philip Thornton and Ioannis
Vasileiou from the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture
and Food Security (CCAFS) describes the design of an impact pathway-based
Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) system that combines classic indicators of process in research with innovative indicators of change. The chapter
highlights the importance of engaging users of research in the development of
impact pathways and continuously throughout the life of the program. Results show
that partnerships with diverse actors such as the private sector and policy makers
are key to achieving change. The chapter concludes that research alone is insufficient to bring about change. However, research does generate knowledge that
stakeholders can put to use to generate development outcomes.
Chapter 5 by Monika Egger Kissling and Roman Windisch, ‘Lessons from
taking stock on 12 years of Swiss international cooperation on climate change’
highlights the challenges encountered and lessons learned from this assessment
where a bilateral donor puts climate change lens on a longstanding development
cooperation portfolio. The chapter discusses the need (1) for evaluators to put more
effort in identifying best methodological practices amidst a large volume of information, diverse portfolio and absence of reliable data; (2) for practitioners to invest
more in strategic project design and monitoring to provide accurate data; and (3) for
policy makers to be cognizant of the value that evaluation brings, as it is an
important tool that contributes to accountability.
Chapter 6 by Michael Carbon discusses the approach, process and lessons from
the evaluation of UNEP’s Climate Change Sub-programme. It shows the importance of developing an appropriate analytical framework that is well-suited for the
scope and complexity of the object of evaluation, and how the Theory of Change
approach helped make a credible assessment of UNEP’s contribution towards
impact, sustainability and upscaling.
Chapter 7 written by Aryanie Amellina focuses on an assessment of the initial
phases of the Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM) in Indonesia. It highlights JCM
governance and ease of use of methodologies related to measurement, reporting and
verification (MRV). The author concludes with recommendations to strengthen
methods to determine reference emissions and for clarifying ways to allocate credit
among countries to define a pathway to a tradeable credit mechanism.
Chapter 8 by Jyotsna Puri, ‘Using mixed methods to assessing trade-offs
between agricultural decisions and deforestation’, demonstrates the importance of
using qualitative and quantitative methods to assess and measure win-win development policies that also help mitigate climate change. The author’s study explores
the poverty and environment nexus using historical data on land rights and panel
data on land use in Thailand. The chapter concludes that it is important to measure
the differential effects of policies on different crops, agricultural intensity and
agricultural frontier. In the case examined by the author, she advises that policies
that encourage cultivation may not be detrimental to forest cover after all.
Chapter 9 written by Aaron Zazueta and Neeraj Negi presents the methodological approach adopted in the evaluation of climate change mitigation projects
supported by the Global Environment Facility in four emerging markets, namely
8
J.I. Uitto et al.
Vasileiou from the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture
and Food Security (CCAFS) describes the design of an impact pathway-based
Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) system that combines classic indicators of process in research with innovative indicators of change. The chapter
highlights the importance of engaging users of research in the development of
impact pathways and continuously throughout the life of the program. Results show
that partnerships with diverse actors such as the private sector and policy makers
are key to achieving change. The chapter concludes that research alone is insufficient to bring about change. However, research does generate knowledge that
stakeholders can put to use to generate development outcomes.
Chapter 5 by Monika Egger Kissling and Roman Windisch, ‘Lessons from
taking stock on 12 years of Swiss international cooperation on climate change’
highlights the challenges encountered and lessons learned from this assessment
where a bilateral donor puts climate change lens on a longstanding development
cooperation portfolio. The chapter discusses the need (1) for evaluators to put more
effort in identifying best methodological practices amidst a large volume of information, diverse portfolio and absence of reliable data; (2) for practitioners to invest
more in strategic project design and monitoring to provide accurate data; and (3) for
policy makers to be cognizant of the value that evaluation brings, as it is an
important tool that contributes to accountability.
Chapter 6 by Michael Carbon discusses the approach, process and lessons from
the evaluation of UNEP’s Climate Change Sub-programme. It shows the importance of developing an appropriate analytical framework that is well-suited for the
scope and complexity of the object of evaluation, and how the Theory of Change
approach helped make a credible assessment of UNEP’s contribution towards
impact, sustainability and upscaling.
Chapter 7 written by Aryanie Amellina focuses on an assessment of the initial
phases of the Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM) in Indonesia. It highlights JCM
governance and ease of use of methodologies related to measurement, reporting and
verification (MRV). The author concludes with recommendations to strengthen
methods to determine reference emissions and for clarifying ways to allocate credit
among countries to define a pathway to a tradeable credit mechanism.
Chapter 8 by Jyotsna Puri, ‘Using mixed methods to assessing trade-offs
between agricultural decisions and deforestation’, demonstrates the importance of
using qualitative and quantitative methods to assess and measure win-win development policies that also help mitigate climate change. The author’s study explores
the poverty and environment nexus using historical data on land rights and panel
data on land use in Thailand. The chapter concludes that it is important to measure
the differential effects of policies on different crops, agricultural intensity and
agricultural frontier. In the case examined by the author, she advises that policies
that encourage cultivation may not be detrimental to forest cover after all.
Chapter 9 written by Aaron Zazueta and Neeraj Negi presents the methodological approach adopted in the evaluation of climate change mitigation projects
supported by the Global Environment Facility in four emerging markets, namely
8
J.I. Uitto et al.