Page - (000022) - in Evaluating Climate Change Action for Sustainable Development

Chapter1 EvaluatingClimateChangeAction forSustainableDevelopment: Introduction Juha I.Uitto, JyotsnaPuri, andRobD. vandenBerg Abstract This chapter considers evaluation as essential for learning and for reflectingonwhetheractions toaddress thecomplexchallengespertainingtoclimate changeareontracktoproducingthedesiredoutcomes.TheParisAgreementof2015 wasan importantmilestoneon the road towardsa zero-carbon, resilient, prosperous and fair future.However,while theworld has agreed on the need to tackle climate change for sustainabledevelopment, it is critical toprovide evidence-basedanalysis ofpastexperiencesandongoing innovations toshed lightonhowwemightenhance the effectiveness and efficiency of actions at various levels. Thorough and credible evaluationshelpus identifywhatworks, forwhom,whenandwhereandunderwhat circumstances inorder tomitigateclimatechange,achievewin-winsituationsfor the society, theeconomyand theenvironment, reduce riskand increase resilience in the face of changing climate conditions. This chapter serves as an introduction to the book onEvaluatingClimateChangeAction for SustainableDevelopment that sets the scene on the current state of climate change evaluation and brings together experiencesonevaluatingclimate changepolicy,mitigation andadaptation. Keywords Evaluation • Climate change • Global environment • Mitigation • Adaptation Climatechangehasemergedasoneof thepreeminentchallengesfacinghumankind in the twentyfirst century.The Intergovernmental Panel onClimateChange states J.I.Uitto (*) IndependentEvaluationOffice,GlobalEnvironment Facility,Washington,DC,USA e-mail: juitto@thegef.org J. Puri International Initiative for ImpactEvaluation (3ie),NewDelhi, India e-mail: jpuri@3ieimpact.org R.D. vandenBerg King’sCollegeLondonand InternationalDevelopmentEvaluationAssociation (IDEAS), Leidschendam,TheNetherlands e-mail: rdwinterberg@gmail.com ©TheAuthor(s) 2017 J.I.Uitto et al. (eds.),EvaluatingClimateChangeAction for Sustainable Development,DOI10.1007/978-3-319-43702-6_1 1