In previous years, much of the discussion around the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of climate adaptation focused on the development of frameworks and indicator systems at the project and program levels. Relatively little attention has been paid to M&E at higher or more aggregated levels—i.e. portfolio, national, regional and international—where the institutional contexts, processes and content for such systems are more complex.

For this project, IISD collaborated with GIZ to conduct a comparative analysis of 10 M&E systems at aggregate levels based on document analysis and stakeholder interviews. The results provide an analysis of the 10 systems reviewed in terms of:

• Context: The policy framework of adaptation, the purpose of the M&E system, and its level of application and aggregation.
• Process: The institutions charged with overseeing M&E of adaptation, the process of how the M&E system has been established, and the steps involved in monitoring and evaluating adaptation.
• Content: The different approaches to M&E of adaptation, the data and information required for analysis, and the outputs and reporting products associated with each system.

The analysis also produced a repository of adaptation indicators used in the M&E systems reviewed. The repository serves as a reference point for practitioners who are involved in the development of M&E systems, providing illustrative examples to help inform selection and development of indicators that best serve their own country-specific and decision-making contexts. IISD is building on this work through further collaboration with GIZ to develop a guidebook for decision-makers in developing M&E systems at (sub)national levels.