The session examines how can evaluation help support the growing response to climate change, drawing upon three separate, independent evaluations of climate mitigation programs funded by the the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) as part of its work in Climate ChangeFew contemporary issues are as much a battleground for truth and power as climate change. AEA also recognizes this too, and this session was honored to be selected on the conference’s Presidential Strand. Our planet has become undeniably warmer, and the scientific evidence for the human causes is unequivocal. To this date, 181 countries have ratified the Paris Agreement on climate change, and with the increased recognition of global warming, funding and programming is also increasing.
One paper in the session from Ross Strategic and another from Mathematica Policy Research shared lessons from evaluations of climate mitigation efforts targeting cities, where 55% of the world population currently resides (and almost two-thirds of the global population is estimated to reside by 2050). A third paper from two evaluators, one from Penn State Law and the School of International Affairs and the other from the University of Melbourne, looked at the evaluation of climate litigation used to enforce climate laws and impose penalties on climate pollution. Policy and regulations are just paper if they are not enforced, which is why climate litigation is critical.
The evaluation of climate mitigation is complex, and there is no magic recipe (approach) to achieve it. The session concludes with Q&A surrounding the evaluation of this critical area of work, with attention to speaking truth to power.