Biodiversity, Climate Adaptation, and Political Economy: Insights from a 30-year Evaluation of the Biodiverse Challenge Fund

28 October 2026 | 16:00 CEST to 16:30 CEST | Lille, France

Abstract

The session will focus on how political economy shape biodiversity conservation with livelihoods and climate adaptation as core components. Political Economy Analysis (PEA) forms the core of the methodology, with in country experts applying rapid PEA to assess how conservation rules and practices evolved over time. Analyses centred on three dimensions:

• foundational factors including governance history, natural resources, and state–society relations;
• rules of the game covering formal and informal practices affecting conservation such as social forestry or links between agriculture and protected areas; and
• power and influence (identifying key actors, alliances, and exclusions).

These analyses were validated through interviews with government officials, project implementers, and partners yielding rich insights into how projects interacted with governance structures, incentives, and power relations to shape long-term impact.

Evidence shows that impact across BCF was strongly dependent on political economy conditions - governance strength, institutional capacity, political commitment, and policy alignment, shaping what works and what lasts. Where enabling political conditions existed, projects accelerated change; where they were weak, impact remained limited due to disconnect between technical outputs and policy uptake. The evaluation also found that durable outcomes and policy influence were strongest when implementing teams were deeply rooted in local contexts, working through trusted relationships with government, communities, and the private sector.

By combining PEA, deep‑dive country studies, and local knowledge, the evaluation offers lessons for designing environmentally effective, politically informed, and democratically aligned climate and biodiversity investments.

Rationale and Objectives

This session will explore how political economy, governance strength, incentives, and local knowledge systems influence the effectiveness of biodiversity and climate adaptation interventions. Drawing on a rare, multi decade evaluation of the Biodiverse Challenge Fund (BCF), the session will examine how political economy conditions shape conservation outcomes across diverse geographies, governance contexts, ecosystems, and intervention types. This was grounded in the hypothesis that the enabling environment, that is, the status of democracy, civil society, and corruption levels are pivotal for long-term conservation and climate success and failure than who implemented it or funding levels.

PEA was central to the evaluation’s analytical framework. The session will aim to discuss the design in how we sampled and our deep-dive approach of understanding the context in 7 countries. In country experts conducted rapid PEAs to trace how conservation policies and practices had changed since fund inception; identify the systemic forces shaping these changes; and understand the actors influencing key policy moments. Whilst the total sample of project case studies is small it allows us to understand what drove success and failure more.

Participants will gain:

• Insights into integrating PEA to evaluate biodiversity and climate interventions.
• Evidence on how governance conditions shape effectiveness, sustainability, and policy uptake.
• Lessons for designing adaptive, politically strategic climate and biodiversity investments.
• Real-world conservation cases illustrating complex political dynamics and institutional trajectories.

Lille Grand Palais
Room 16
1 Bd des Cités Unies
59800 Lille, France