Page - (000006) - in Evaluating Climate Change Action for Sustainable Development

EvaluationOffice so important. Ifwe are to successfully implement the landmark 2015global agreements to put theworld on a low-emission, climate-resilient, and sustainable trajectory it is an imperative to embrace evidence-based learning and monitoring and evaluation as an integral aspect of implementation, so that our approachesandprioritiescanberefinedandoptimizedevenwhenwearealreadyon the road. A few lessons are already emerging. First, we need to rapidly break down the sectoral walls that isolate the environment from economics – at the international andnational scales – so as to startmainstreaming environmental considerations in the wider decision-making process. Second, we must bring the various lines of funding the GEF provides countries much closer together, making the best use possible of their interlinkages and addressing the systemic nature of the threats. Finally, we must move from just addressing the symptoms of environmental degradation – given we are running out of fingers to stick in the progressively more porous proverbial dyke– and start tackling the keydrivers of environmental degradation. Climatechangeisarguablyoneof themostcomplexof theglobalenvironmental phenomena,with its root causes ingrained across almost all sectors and industries. Agriculture, for instance, accounts for a significant share of global greenhousegas emissions, includingthroughmethaneemissionsfromlivestock,nitrousoxidefrom fertilizer use, and land use change. Cattle, palm oil, and rice together contribute approximatelyhalfofall foodproduction-relatedgreenhousegasemissions, requir- ingsolutionapproaches that takeintoaccount thelinkagesbetweentheseindividual emission sources. Learning from our past agriculture projects will help us tackle these emission sources at the systemic level. Against thisbackground,wealsohave toaddress the factwearealready locked inapath towardsawarmerworld irrespectiveofwhatwemaydo today.TheParis Agreementhas embraced theutmost priorityofpromotinggreater resilience in the wayswe conduct our business and daily lives. Thiswill be particularly important for the poorest andmost vulnerable countries.Weare confidentwe can also build our future work on the significant portfolio of climate adaptation work that has accumulated important lessons over the past decade – meaning promoting and replicating approaches that are most effective in helping communities adapt to droughts, sea level rise, and changing seasonalweather patterns. This bookcouldnot comeat abetter time.Weneed tomakechoices that direct our limitedresources to theirbestuseon theground–soas tomosteffectivelyhelp countries fulfill their commitments to achieving the goals and objectives of the 2030Agenda for SustainableDevelopment. Evaluations and lessons learned from past projects and programs must be considered by all stakeholders involved, to enable informed decision-making to do justice to the urgency of the problems at hand. The efforts of the Independent Evaluation Office of the GEF to produce useful, concrete. and practical lessons, exemplified in this book and through the vi Foreword