The Independent Evaluation Unit (IEU) of the Green Climate Fund participated in Asian Evaluation Week (AEW) 2026, held from 1 to 4 September 2026 at the Asian Development Bank headquarters in Manila, Philippines.

The IEU contributed through a parallel session on lessons from independent evaluation across climate finance institutions, a panel discussion addressing evaluation in small island developing States and fragile contexts, and an Evidence Marketplace stall exploring the use of artificial intelligence in evidence synthesis.

Parallel Session 15: Is Climate Finance Delivering? Lessons from Independent Evaluation

3 September 2026 | 3:30–5:00 PM | Auditorium Hall 3

After more than a decade of climate finance, attention has increasingly shifted from the volume of finance mobilized to the results it delivers. The session explored how independent evaluation can help assess what is working, where implementation gaps remain, and what lessons can strengthen future climate finance policy, practice and decision-making.

The session brought together perspectives from the independent evaluation offices of the Green Climate Fund (GCF), Asian Development Bank (ADB), and Global Environment Facility (GEF) to examine whether climate finance is delivering on its objectives and what evaluation evidence can tell us about implementation, institutional performance and results. 

From the GCF, the discussion drew on three complementary evaluations: the Independent Evaluation of the GCF’s Approach to Country Ownership, the Independent Evaluation of the GCF’s Approach to Gender, and the ongoing Third Performance Review of the GCF. Together, these evaluations provided perspectives on country leadership, gender-responsive programming and implementation, institutional performance, and the GCF’s broader role within the climate finance landscape. 

These perspectives were complemented by contributions from ADB’s Independent Evaluation Department and GEF’s Independent Evaluation Office. The session concluded with a moderated discussion and audience Q&A on implementation challenges, evidence gaps, and how independent evaluation can inform future climate finance decisions. 

From Vulnerability to Resilience: Evidence on Development Support for Small Island Developing States and Fragile Contexts

2 September 2026 | 11:00 AM

Archi Rastogi, Chief Evaluation Advisor at the GCF IEU, joined the session as a panelist, drawing on the IEU’s evaluation of GCF investments in Small Island Developing States and reflections from the ongoing GCF Performance Review.
His interventions focused on access to climate finance, institutional capacity, transaction costs, country ownership and the responsiveness of financing approaches to small-island vulnerability.

Evidence Marketplace: Synthesizing evidence in climate interventions – what’s new with AI?

3 September 2026 | 9:00 – 12:00 PM 

The IEU also participated in the AEW Evidence Marketplace with a stall showcasing a joint synthesis pilot by the evaluation offices of the Adaptation Fund, Climate Investment Funds, Green Climate Fund and Global Environment Facility on the use of artificial intelligence in evidence synthesis. 

The pilot applied AI-supported methods to classify a large volume of data, extract and organize evidence, and synthesize findings from 191 forestry-related evaluation documents, generating more than 11,564 individual evaluation findings. 

The stall explored how AI was integrated into different stages of the synthesis process, where it added value, and the methodological considerations and limitations that emerged. It also highlighted how the methodology was adapted and refined in response to differences in evaluation approaches, data quality and reporting across the four participating climate funds.

Participants were invited to consider where AI can add value to evaluation and what elements of evaluation and evidence synthesis cannot be replaced by AI. The Evidence Marketplace format supported short, interactive exchanges and informal discussion around both the findings and the methodology. 

The IEU stall was led by Alejandro Gonzalez-Caro, Evaluation Data Associate, and Youn Park, Policy Researcher, GCF IEU.