E4CA at the 16th European Evaluation Biennial Conference

The event attracts up to 1000 delegates from Europe and globally, to debate, share learnings and engage with state-of-the-art developments in the theory, practice and methodology of evaluation.

Rationale and Objectives

The Evidence for Climate and Environment Action strand directly addresses the conference theme Evaluation for Vibrant Democracies by demonstrating how evaluative evidence strengthens democratic decision-making on climate and environmental policies. Climate change and environmental degradation represents two of the most pressing challenges facing democracies worldwide, requiring evidence-informed policies. This strand showcases how evaluation can support democratic governance by providing credible evidence on what works, for whom, and under what conditions in climate and environmental action.

The strand embodies all three conference sub-themes:

• New Methods: Sessions will present innovative evaluation approaches for climate and environment interventions, including geospatial tools, AI applications in monitoring, and novel methods for attributing impact in complex adaptive systems.
• Systemic Learning: Climate and environment action requires understanding interconnected systems. The strand examines how evaluation can capture system-level change, and transformational impacts.
• Responsiveness: The strand emphasizes evaluation role in amplifying marginalized voices particularly Indigenous peoples, women, youth, and communities most affected.

Strand Overview

This strand proposes six interconnected sessions. Each session synthesizes multiple E4CA presentations while creating space for additional contributions.

Session 1: Indigenous Peoples, Biodiversity, and Climate Resilience

The session will examine how evaluation can respect and integrate Indigenous knowledge systems while assessing their contribution to climate resilience and biodiversity conservation.

Objectives:

• Present evaluative evidence on the effectiveness of Indigenous land management and conservation practices for climate mitigation and adaptation
• Explore methodological and ethical considerations in evaluating interventions involving Indigenous communities
• Identify lessons for integrating traditional ecological knowledge with scientific evaluation approaches

Session 2: Climate Finance: Access, Effectiveness, and Accountability

This session examines what evaluation reveals about climate finance effectiveness, where resources actually flow, and how accountability mechanisms function.

Objectives:

• Synthesize evidence on the effectiveness of different climate finance mechanisms and delivery modalities
• Assess barriers to climate finance access for the most vulnerable countries and communities
• Examine transparency, monitoring, and accountability in climate finance flows
• Explore the disconnect between climate finance commitments and development outcomes

Session 3: Adaptation Interventions: Evidence on What Builds Resilience

This session synthesizes lessons on what adaptation approaches prove effective at scale.

Objectives:

• Present evidence on effectiveness of adaptation interventions across key sectors (water, agriculture, urban, health)
• Examine methodological challenges in evaluating adaptation, including attribution and measuring resilience
• Identify conditions under which community-based and ecosystem-based adaptation succeeds

Session 4: Just Transition, Environmental Integrity, and Transformational Change

This session examines evidence on what makes transitions “just” and environmentally sound, and how evaluation can assess transformational change that delivers multiple benefits beyond emissions reduction.

Objectives:

• Present evidence on renewable energy investments and their economic, social, and environmental outcomes
• Explore evaluation frameworks for assessing transformational change versus incremental impacts
• Assess environmental safeguards and co-benefits of low-carbon transitions, including ecosystem protection, and biodiversity outcomes

Session 5: Innovative Methods and Tools for Climate and Environmental Evaluation

This session explores how methodological advances can enhance evaluation’s contribution to climate and environmental policy and practice.

Objectives:

• Present innovative methods for climate and environmental evaluation including geospatial tools, AI applications, remote sensing, and biodiversity monitoring technologies
• Examine approaches to evidence synthesis and meta-evaluation in climate and environmental domains

Session 6: Land Degradation and Transboundary Water Management

This session examines what works in combating desertification, restoring degraded lands, and managing transboundary water systems to deliver both environmental and development benefits.

Objectives:

• Present evaluative evidence on sustainable land management approaches that prevent and reverse land degradation and desertification
• Explore integrated approaches that address land-water-climate nexus challenges in dryland and coastal ecosystems