Pre-Conference Professional Development Workshop: Evaluation of climate change and development
This is an intermediate level workshop. It is intended for evaluators and commissioners who aim to expand their foundational understanding of evaluation of both climate change mitigation and adaptation interventions or development evaluations in context of increasing vulnerability or climate-related risks.
26 October 2026 | 08:30 CEST to 17:00 CEST | Lille, France
Prerequisites
The E4CA (Evidence for Climate Action) workshop requires foundational knowledge of quantitative and qualitative methods and designs for complex evaluations. For the interactive group work, some first experiences in development project and program evaluation and/or thematic evaluations are advantageous.
Abstract
The climate crisis is one of the greatest challenges in human history. The global consequences of climate change threaten the preservation and development of natural and human systems and are already causing enormous ecological, social and economic costs. As countries increasingly respond to the demanding impacts of climate change, evidence-based decision making for climate change adaptation and mitigation has become ever more urgent. Effective monitoring, evaluation and learning is key for better and timely climate policies and resilience strengthening.
However, evaluating climate mitigation and adaptation interventions faces a number of particular technical challenges. Key among them is an incomplete understanding of future changes in climate, socio-economic and ecological systems as well as the interactions between those changes. This is augmented by other challenges such as difficulties in attributing outcomes to specific interventions, shifting baselines and long time periods for outcomes and impacts of adaptation and mitigation interventions to unfold.
To cope with these challenges and to provide useful and up-to-date information for better policies and decision-making processes, evaluation increasingly needs more systematic and rigorous approaches to synthesize existing knowledge and to fill evidence gaps. The E4CA workshop refers to this responsibility drawing upon comprehensive experiences by experienced instructors gained in cooperation with international partners including multilateral and bilateral evaluation units as well as global evidence providers, partner countries and universities. The workshop is part of the international Evidence for Climate Action (E4CA) initiative that brings together about 20 development partners, including MDBs, UN, bilateral evaluation organizations. Our shared aim is to improve the quality of climate-related evaluations and bring evaluation evidence to policy-makers, especially during the international climate negotiations (e.g. COP 31 in 2026).
Purpose
The workshop aims to increase participants’ knowledge and skills in the evaluation of complex climate change and development interventions.
Learning Outcomes
After the workshop the participants 1) are aware of key climate-relevant concepts, types of interventions (projects) as well as their implications when commissioning or conducting (complex) evaluations; 2) understand the basics of climate politics, especially through a lens of the role of evaluation in the United Nations climate negotiations; 3) know how to commission, design and conduct climate evaluations; 4) have a good overview of intermediate and advanced data collection tools and analysis; and 5) are familiar with applying concepts and approaches for the evaluation of transformative and just climate interventions.
Lille Grand Palais
Room 6
1 Bd des Cités Unies
59800 Lille, France