Toolkit for monitoring, evaluation, and learning for National Adaptation Plan processes

As the impacts of climate change and climate-related shocks become more unpredictable and severe, countries are increasingly using National Adaptation Plan (NAP) processes to design and build resilient strategies – and learn from them. Monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) systems are critical to enabling countries to understand whether NAP processes work, how they work, and for whom, and how to improve actions based on the insights gained. Continuously learning from NAP processes’ actions and adjusting strategies accordingly is crucial to enhancing the effectiveness of adaptation and avoiding negative unintended effects from policies and interventions. MEL systems for NAP processes are also an important source of information for processes under the Paris Agreement, including assessing collective progress on the global goal of adaptation through the UAE Framework for Global Climate Resilience and, relatedly, the adaptation section of Biennial Transparency Reports. This toolkit for MEL for NAP processes provides practical guidance for developing and continuously improving MEL systems for NAP processes. It is designed for government actors coordinating NAP processes, stakeholders, and development partners supporting adaptation planning and implementation. This toolkit provides flexible yet concrete guidance on the planning, implementation, and revision of MEL systems, regardless of what stage countries are at in their NAP processes or the development and implementation of their MEL system. The toolkit has been developed in collaboration with the UN Adaptation Committee.