About us

The IEU pursues the motto of “Trusted Evidence. Informed Policies. High Impact.” The IEU relies on high-quality research to produce accurate and relevant evaluations and reliable evidence. IEU’s evaluations provide decision makers with important insights required to develop effective policy. When evidence-informed policies are implemented, the likelihood of high impact is much greater. The Evaluation Policy for the GCF, developed by the IEU, also informs this work. 

The GCF has frameworks on mitigation and adaptation performance measurement. 

View the IEU’s 2024 Work Plan and Budget. 

For information on how to get involved with IEU’s work, please refer to the IEU brochure.

The GCF Board established an operationally independent Evaluation Unit as part of the core structure of the Fund. The IEU is required to conduct periodic independent evaluations of the performance of the Fund to provide an objective assessment of its results, including its funded activities and its effectiveness and efficiency. The purpose of these independent evaluations is to inform decision making by the GCF Board and to identify and disseminate lessons learned. The results of the periodic evaluations will be published.

Generally speaking, reports provide information about the implementation, progress and/or completion of an activity (including projects and programmes which GCF financing support). In contrast, evaluations provide a systematic analysis of what an activity has achieved, based on pre-determined criteria. Evaluations ask two crucial questions: Is the project doing things right? And, is it doing the right things? The answers to these two questions provide the basis for strategic guidance in evaluation.

The IEU can help a range of agencies and institutions in climate change evaluation and evaluation capacity building. If you are a:

• Project planner/implementer/accredited entity:
  • The IEU can help you plan for measuring changes in levels of resilience of beneficiaries.
  • Advise you on your programme plan/project so that your project may measurably contribute to a paradigm shift.
• Donor or a strategy adviser or a civil society organisation. The IEU can:
  • Help you measure the results of your investments.
  • Help you design GCF programmes and portfolios that produce high-quality evidence.
• A learning institution or someone who seeks evidence in the climate change area:
  • Work with us to see how you can partner, get advice or contribute to a growing evidence base.
  • Talk with us about building standards for evidence.

For further information, please Email Dr. Archi Rastogi

The GCF was set up by the 194 countries who are parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2010, as part of the Convention’s financial mechanism. Paragraphs 61 and 62 of GCF’s Governing Instrument state that the reports of the IEU will be provided to the Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC and that the COP may commission an independent assessment of the overall performance of the Fund.

The IEU advises the GCF Board and its stakeholders about lessons learnt from evaluations and high-quality evaluative evidence, and provides guidance and capacity support to GCF’s implementing entities and their evaluation offices. Implementing entities include GCF’s Designated National Authorities and Accredited Entities in developing countries that have met the resource, capacity and legal requirements necessary to undertake GCF funded activities.

As an operationally independent unit of the GCF, all evaluation findings by the IEU will be made public through published documents, the IEU Website, IEU’s Twitter and LinkedIn feeds, the IEU Newsletter and other dissemination platforms. Specifically, under the terms of agreement defined by the GCF Board, “the results of periodic evaluations will be published”.

Paragraph 59 of GCF’s Governing Instrument states the purpose of the IEU’s “independent evaluations is to inform decision-making by the Board and to identify and disseminate lessons learned.” As part of this function, the IEU is expected to provide evaluation reports to the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement for the purpose of periodic reviews of the convention’s Financial Mechanism (the GCF).

Evaluation is a constantly evolving field. To ensure that the IEU develops, shares and utilises the best practices available, it engages in knowledge sharing collaborations with other evaluation agencies. Some of these include the Climate Invest Funds, the Adaptation Fund and the Global Environment Facility. The IEU also collaborates with other institutions working in climate change and has formal Memorandums of Understanding with a range of organisations. Learn more about our partners.

The IEU disseminates its findings through the publication of evaluation reports and through information disseminated via the IEU Website, the IEU Twitter and LinkedIn feeds, and the IEU Newsletter.

This can be explained more in the Evaluation Policy for the GCF that came into force in May 2022. The IEU is the custodian of this Policy, as mandated by the GCF Board.