Steps to Identify and Use Adaptation Indicators for National Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Systems
Indicators are an important part of monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) systems because they provide continuous and structured data that governments can use to track whether changes are occurring as a result of policies and actions.
Indicators serve multiple functions in a national MEL system. They support accountability by providing evidence of progress to decision-makers and development partners. They enable learning by revealing what is working and what is not. They also help connect national efforts to international reporting obligations, such as Biennial Transparency Reports, Adaptation Communications, and national communications under the Enhanced Transparency Framework, and to inform the global stocktake process under the Paris Agreement.
Designing an effective indicator framework, however, is not simply a technical exercise. It requires understanding adaptation objectives, institutional landscapes, existing data systems, and how findings will be used. Indicators that appear rigorous on paper but cannot be collected, or that measure the wrong things, can impose a reporting burden without yielding useful knowledge.
This brief supports members of national adaptation plan (NAP) teams involved directly or indirectly in MEL systems, and those supporting them, in identifying and using adaptation indicators for their national MEL systems effectively and efficiently. It focuses on the steps to build indicator frameworks grounded in national adaptation priorities and useful for the decisions that national and subnational actors need to make, while keeping global frameworks, such as the UAE Framework for Global Climate Resilience, in mind.
Related Content
- ONLINE COURSE | MEL for NAP Processes
- PRACTICE BRIEFS | Methods for National Adaptation Plan Progress Reporting
- REPORT | Assessing Adaptation of First BTRs: Taking stock of progress on adaptation
Publisher: International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD)