Lessons from climate coordination case studies

🌍 Healing the Ozone Hole: A Model for Combating Global Warming. The recovery of the ozone layer is one of the most significant environmental success stories of our time. Thanks to the Montreal Protocol, which phased out ozone-depleting substances like chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), we’ve seen a gradual healing of the ozone hole. This global commitment has not only helped restore the protective layer but has also had positive effects on our climate. Key Lessons for Tackling Global Warming: Global Cooperation: Just as countries united to address ozone depletion, a collective global effort is crucial for combating climate change. Regulation of Harmful Substances: The success in reducing ODS demonstrates that regulatory measures can lead to significant environmental improvements. We need similar strategies to cut emissions. Innovation and Alternatives: The shift to ozone-friendly alternatives drove technological innovation. For climate change, investing in and adopting clean energy technologies is essential for reducing our carbon footprint. Monitoring and Adaptation: Continuous monitoring was key to assessing the effectiveness of the Montreal Protocol. For climate change, robust monitoring systems are vital for tracking progress and making necessary adjustments. Public Awareness and Engagement: Raising awareness about the ozone hole garnered public support and action. Educating people about climate change and encouraging sustainable practices can similarly drive collective efforts. The healing of the ozone layer proves that significant environmental challenges can be addressed through coordinated global efforts, regulatory frameworks, and technological innovation. By applying these lessons to climate change, we can hope for meaningful progress in the fight against global warming. #ClimateAction #Sustainability #GlobalWarming #Innovation #EnvironmentalSuccess #OzoneLayer Image credit: NASA - October average minimum ozone over Antarctica

The World Bank: Success Stories and Strategies for Achieving Climate Adaptation and Resilience | Nov 2024 Some Key Insights: A. Whole-of-Society Approach to Adaptation:    Recommendation: Implement cross-sector, inclusive strategies to integrate resilience into economic and development policies. This approach necessitates aligning policies across various departments and sectors to achieve cohesive implementation.  Risk: Fragmented methodologies elevate vulnerabilities, particularly in critical sectors -- energy, infrastructure, and public health.  .. B. Resilient Infrastructure Investment: Recommendation: Prioritize investments in resilient infrastructure, such as Nature-based solutions, specifically within the domains of transportation, water management, and energy, to mitigate potential climate disruptions. Opportunity: Establishing climate-resilient infrastructure can stimulate economic growth by minimizing disaster-related financial losses and enhancing investor confidence.  Case Study: Brazil's Water Cisterns program exemplifies the socioeconomic advantages of resilient infrastructure investments by reducing health risks while enhancing water accessibility.  .. C. Financial Preparedness and Disaster Risk Financing (DRFI): Recommendation: Formulate a comprehensive financial strategy that incorporates insurance frameworks and fiscal resilience, exemplified by Colombia’s climate risk stress testing within its financial sector.  Risk: In the absence of effective financial planning, the costs associated with climate-related events may impose significant strains on public budgets, thereby impeding sustainable development efforts.  Opportunity: Increasing insurance uptake and enhancing financial preparedness can stabilize businesses and mitigate losses stemming from extreme events.  Case Study: The Philippines' DRFI strategy has facilitated improved fiscal health and disaster resilience, characterized by a notable increase in insurance participation among vulnerable populations.  .. D. Leveraging Private Sector Investment: Recommendation: Promote private sector investment in adaptation initiatives by addressing barriers, including knowledge deficits, unclear metrics, and restrictive financing mechanisms.  Opportunity: Public-private partnerships and robust regulatory frameworks dedicated to climate-resilient investments can provide novel revenue streams and confer competitive edges. Case Study: Albania’s solar energy project illustrates how private investments in renewable energy can bolster national resilience, generate employment opportunities, and support climate goals. .. E. Scaling Up Early Warning Systems: Recommendation: Enhance early warning and anticipatory systems for climate-related events, particularly protecting vulnerable populations.  Case Study: India’s Ahmedabad Heat Action Plan has saved thousands of lives by implementing proactive measures in response to extreme heat events. .. More 👇

Nobody is doing anything? Today, we release our new report "Reality Check: Lessons from 25 Policies Advancing a Low-Carbon Future", reviewing global trends in climate policies and providing deep dives on 25 real-world policies implemented in countries as different as Niger, China, Peru, and Canada, selected among the 4,500 climate policies introduced over the last three decades. Many of these examples are not necessarily first-best policies or even best practice: to achieve successful implementation, governments often had to compromise. They faced institutional capacity constraints and had to manage trade-offs with other policy objectives. Some interventions were just the first step and most countries are adjusting policy design as they draw lessons from real-world implementation. The report offers insights into how policies play out in countries with different income levels and political contexts. It also sheds light on how countries can design and implement climate policies and the compromises required. The analysis reveals the critical importance of political and public buy-in, along with strong public institutions, cross-party support, and ongoing public engagement. The report also highlights an important gap in credible ex post analysis of the impacts of low-carbon policy implementation. To learn from each other, countries need to improve monitoring of implementation and emissions outcomes, but also to monitor and report costs, distributional impacts and other benefits. Many thanks to the large team who produced these case studies, our internal and external peer reviewer, and the core team: Tom Kerr Catrina Laura Godinho Penny Mealy Khyati Rathore Katie Polkinghorne David Groves Jia Li. Many thanks also to the NewClimate Institute and Climate Policy Initiative for their work and contributions! This is part of a broader work program on the political economy of climate action... with more coming soon! https://lnkd.in/e5Q7GNMF

When #climate projects stumble, the first explanation we often hear is #money. ➡️ Not enough funding. ➡️ Funds arriving too late. ➡️ Budgets spread too thin. But our research shows that many failures can’t be explained by budgets alone. Projects fail because they ignore local realities. Because they don’t make use of climate data. Because they overlook opportunities for innovation. In our recent study of #adaptation projects across multiple countries, we found that success had less to do with perfect management structures and more to do with the right combination of factors. For example, projects that embedded #climateinformation into decision-making, fostered #institutionalcoordination, and created space for #innovation were far more likely to deliver results. That’s good news. It means #failure is not inevitable and success doesn’t always require a bigger budget. It requires listening more carefully to #communities. Building with the best available #science. And being #bold enough to try new approaches, even in challenging contexts. If we want adaptation to succeed at scale, we must move beyond a narrow focus on resources and instead prioritize the enabling conditions that allow projects to thrive. Every failed project is a community left more vulnerable than before. We can, and must, do better. Especially in #FCAS - Fragile and Conflict Affected States, highly vulnerable to climate shocks and stressors. Read more about our study on this and our findings here: https://lnkd.in/eyuKrWsi Dr. Alvaro Lario Stephanie Speck Ana Maria Loboguerrero Ruben G. EcheverriaTess Morris Todd Rosenstock Ehtisham ul Hassan Ashwani K. Muthoo Dr Dhanush Dinesh Romina Cavatassi Margarita Astralaga CGIAR Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT

Climate adaptation is no longer a theoretical policy ideal—it is a measurable process that demands structure, clarity, and accountability. This Guidebook serves as a detailed compass for countries developing national systems to monitor and evaluate their adaptation efforts. Grounded in real experiences from across the globe, it provides a flexible yet rigorous framework for practitioners, technical advisors, and policymakers designing M&E systems that align with their development context. It dissects the process into four essential building blocks—context, content, operationalisation, and products—while anchoring each decision to practical questions, examples, and tested tools. – It defines the purpose of national adaptation M&E systems and links them to learning, accountability, and adaptive management – It explores methodological approaches for selecting indicators, aggregating data, and integrating monitoring with policy cycles – It shares lessons from countries like Morocco, Nepal, Mexico, and the Philippines on institutional coordination and multi-level design – It connects M&E systems to broader frameworks such as the NAP process, OECD-DAC criteria, and sectoral development planning This is not a prescriptive model—it’s a strategic, customizable roadmap for countries ready to turn climate policy into climate performance. For M&E professionals and humanitarian actors seeking to build systems that are both credible and context-sensitive, this Guidebook is an essential companion to action.

Six Cross-Cutting Truths: Climate Shock-Proofing Women’s Financial Inclusion Colleagues and Friends, I had the honor of working with #FinEquity members MEDA (Mennonite Economic Development Associates), Village Enterprise & Self Employed Women's Association to co-author/support case studies documenting the difficult "how to" on "future-proof" women's livelihoods and financial security within a context of increasing climate change and climate shocks. Below is a quick summary of the meta-blog that analyzes the very interesting (unpredictable) similarities between these 3 diverse case studies from Nicaragua, Kenya, & India. The longer version is posted on the FinDev Gateway site as well: https://lnkd.in/ewsHDjFG. Six Cross-Cutting Truths: Climate Shock-Proofing Women’s Financial Inclusion This blog summarizes cross-cutting findings from a series of case studies highlighting climate-smart innovations from the FinEquity Community that use financial coupled with non-financial interventions that are seeing to improve women’s resilience to climate events. What are we learning? 1. Women are particularly vulnerable to climate change due to social and cultural norms 2. Both financial and non-financial solutions are essential. In some communities, climate change is still viewed as something temporary, so the first step is to educate people and help them accept that climate change is here to stay and stress that the imperative is to begin to plan for it. One partner said, “Changing mindsets is crucial – we know climate events will happen, but there are ways to plan, prepare, and strategically save/invest in tools to help make a business resilient or recover faster.” 3. Women’s livelihoods need to become more climate-resilient through climate “shock-proof” adaption 4. Women are still perceived as “high risk” by financial service providers (FSPs) in many geographies, and climate change is exacerbating women’s livelihood vulnerabilities. 5. Climate-smart tools and technology are required to increase clients’ climate resilience 6. Financial risk mitigation takes different forms 7. The need to measure better. Moving forward, the measurement of women’s climate resilience from project inception will be critical. 8. Local government partnerships can lead to alternative forms of financial sustainability Conclusion These three case studies demonstrate work in three very different geographies – Nicaragua, Kenya, and India – to support women in shock-proofing their livelihoods in the face of climate change and climate events. The similarities between these case studies were striking, especially the need to 1) take a market systems approach, 2) address social and cultural norms, and 3) work closely with local government to ensure the sustainability of programs. While increasing the climate resilience of women often seems insurmountable, these case studies show that through the use of a market systems approach, it is achievable.

As we collectively strive for a net-zero future, the World Bank has just released an insightful report "Reality Check: Lessons from 25 Policies Advancing a Low-Carbon Future". It is an invaluable resource that sheds light on the policies that have proven most effective in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This comprehensive report includes 25 in-depth case studies spanning various sectors and regions, providing crucial insights into the world's journey towards decarbonization. It delves into the context, details, results, and impacts of each policy, offering valuable takeaways and lessons learned. What's truly inspiring is the evidence it presents of tangible progress. From the rapid expansion of solar power in India to the growth of climate-smart agriculture in China, greener financial systems in Colombia, and the removal of fossil fuel subsidies in the Arab Republic of Egypt, these success stories are a testament to the power of well-designed policies and effective implementation. These policies may not always be the first choice of analysts or economists, but they are real-world solutions that have thrived in diverse political and economic settings. They illustrate the importance of political support and strategic policy design in our pursuit of a sustainable future. #ClimateAction #Sustainability #GreenFuture #WorldBank #Decarbonization

The World Bank’s new Reality Check report provides fascinating insight into current climate policy trends around the world, building on 25 case studies of recent climate initiatives from all major industrial sectors. This includes several case studies on low-carbon transport programs, from motorization management strategies in Egypt to e-bus deployment in Chile and bike lane expansion in Peru. By looking at the real-life implementation and concrete impact of climate policies, the report helps improve our understanding of what works, what doesn’t, and how countries and development partners can continue to enhance their approach to climate action for greater impact. Take a look: https://lnkd.in/eXpGiqx3

How policy raises the floor, a case study: climate emissions. As we prepare for Climate Week, I thought this climate case study would be useful. Pulling again from Apparel Impact Institute's helpful Taking Stock report, we look to their aggregated data on emissions. First, the good news: * H&M reduced absolute scope 3 emissions 23% from 2019 to 2024 * PUMA Group reduced is PG&S emissions 17% from 2017 to 2024. These are major companies making really significant strides. And yet - as a system - it is frustratingly having NO impact. (See chart below). Why? While these leaders put dollars toward decarbonization (H&M invested roughly $170 million in 2024 toward value chain decarbonization) instant fashion players wiped out those gains. Why should H&M and Puma (and more significantly their suppliers) have more of a capital outlay than their competitors? This is where policy comes in: to level the playing field. With a requirement to reduce emissions, all players are required to play by the same rules, the costs are shared across the industry, and the system changes. Dupont recognized this with CFCs and the ozone layer. Recognizing this same dynamic, they actively came out in support of binding legislation. The result? Today we don’t speak about the hole in the ozone layer, because the global action we took has led to significant recovery, and it's on track to heal. With the right policies, leaders aren’t punished for doing better—they’re joined by the rest of the industry, and everyone wins. As we prepare talking points, I'm pleading with the corporate sustainability folks headed to New York for Climate Week. We can make great progress, if we start with honesty on how the financial market operates, on the true cost to decarbonize, and how we can create common sense rules to address this. For the full report: https://lnkd.in/gexFKtuR