IEU publications
IEU publications
To serve the needs of our stakeholders, the IEU issues a variety of publications related to our work, including in the context of evaluations and learning. Keep up with the IEU’s latest publications here.
Featured publications
Executive Summary of the Independent Evaluation of the Green Climate Fund’s Approach to and Protection of Whistleblowers and Witnesses (PPWW2024)
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Special Study on REDD+ Results-Based Payment Projects in the Latin America and Caribbean Region
The Special Study on REDD+ Results-Based Payment Projects in the Latin America and Caribbean Region report was prepared to assess the relevance, effectiveness, and efficiency of GCF’s investments in REDD+ projects in the region.
Approach paper: Independent Evaluation of the GCF's 'Health and Well-being, and Food and Water Security' Result Area (HWFW2024)
This approach paper lays the groundwork for the Independent Evaluation of the GCF's investments in the 'Health and Well-being, and Food and Water Security' result area.
GEvalBrief 05
February 2020
To effectively and equitably manage the environmental and social risks of all its investments the GCF has adopted an Environmental and Social Management System (ESMS), comprising the Environmental and Social Policy and a set of internationally recognized Environmental and Social Safeguards (ESS) standards. This 2020 4-page note introduces decision makers to the key points in the IEU’s evaluation of the GCF’s ESMS and ESS. It describes the report’s background, objectives, scope, key findings,...
Approach Brief: Accreditation
February 2020
In deploying its resources, the GCF works through a wide range of institutions to finance projects and programmes. To access funding, these institutions must fulfil the requirements of an accreditation process. This 2020 2-page introductory brief provides a pre-implementation summary of the IEU’s planned synthesis of the GCF accreditation function. In describes the synthesis’ context and aim, the accreditation function, output, timing and methods.
Evidence gap map: Effectiveness of forest conservation interventions
December 2019
This evidence gap map expanded upon a previous study conducted by the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation related to forest conservation interventions. This review updated evidence for the period 2016 to mid-2018 and synthesized this with the coverage of the previous evidence review (1990-2015). Compared to the previous evidence gap map, the evaluation of forest conservation outcomes has clearly accelerated in recent years, but from a modest base: the body of evidence still remains...
Final report on the independent evaluation of the GCF's Country Ownership Approach (COA2019)
October 2019
The GCF Independent Evaluation Unit conducted this evaluation as part of its 2019 Work Plan, which was approved by the GCF Board at its twenty-first meeting (B.21) in October 2018. The evaluation answers four important questions: How does the GCF conceptualize and operationalize country ownership from the strategic and policy perspective? How does the GCF contribute to country leadership and engagement? How effective is the GCF in building institutional capacity (in countries and in itself)...
GEvalNote 04
October 2019
Country ownership is central to the GCF’s pursuit of a paradigm shift towards low-emission and climate-resilient development in developing countries. Better understanding how well GCF is succeeding in ensuring countries take ownership of climate change investments can help improve the effectiveness of climate change actions on the ground. This 2018 2-page note introduces decision makers to the key points in the IEU’s evaluation of the GCF’s country ownership approach. It describes the report’s...
GEvalBrief 04
October 2019
Country ownership is central to the GCF’s pursuit of a paradigm shift towards low-emission and climate-resilient development in developing countries. Better understanding how well GCF is succeeding in ensuring countries take ownership of climate change investments can help improve the effectiveness of climate change actions on the ground. This 2019 4-page note introduces decision makers to the key points in the IEU’s evaluation of the GCF’s country ownership approach. It describes the report’s...
Inception Report for the Independent Evaluation of the GCF’s ESS and ESMS
June 2019
During the twenty-first meeting of the GCF Board, the 2019 work plan of the Independent Evaluation Unit was approved, which lays out the different independent evaluations to be conducted in 2019. One of the evaluations to be conducted by the IEU is an independent assessment of the ESS and ESMS of the Green Climate Fund
Final report on Forward-looking Performance Review of the GCF (FPR2019)
June 2019
At its twenty-first meeting (Manama, 17–20 October 2018) the GCF Board initiated and approved a review of the GCF and asked the GCF Independent Evaluation Unit (IEU) (decision B.21/17) to finalise the process by 30 June 2019. The purpose of the FPR is to encourage the GCF to learn from its experience so far, support accountability, assess how the GCF has performed in delivering its objectives, and look forward, by providing actionable and pragmatic recommendations for enhancing performance. ...
FPR2019 Topical Brief: Summary of the Review
June 2019
The IEU’s Forward-Looking Performance Review (FPR) encourages learning at the GCF. It achieves this by assessing if the GCF has delivered its objectives and by looking forward to the future through recommendations for enhancing the GCF’s performance. The overall objective of this review is to understand how the GCF can better serve the needs of developing countries by fulfilling the mandate provided by the UNFCCC. The second of four 2019 topical FPR briefs, this 4-page summary provides an...
FPR2019 Topical Brief: What can the GCF private sector facility do faster, better, smarter?
June 2019
The IEU’s Forward-Looking Performance Review (FPR) encourages learning at the GCF. It achieves this by assessing if the GCF has delivered its objectives and by looking forward to the future through recommendations for enhancing the GCF’s performance. The overall objective of this review is to understand how the GCF can better serve the needs of developing countries by fulfilling the mandate provided by the UNFCCC. The third of four 2019 topical FPR briefs, this 2-page summary looks specifically...
FPR2019 Topical Brief: GCF's Accreditation Process
June 2019
The IEU’s Forward-Looking Performance Review (FPR) encourages learning at the GCF. It achieves this by assessing if the GCF has delivered its objectives and by looking forward to the future through recommendations for enhancing the GCF’s performance. The overall objective of this review is to understand how the GCF can better serve the needs of developing countries by fulfilling the mandate provided by the UNFCCC. The fourth of four 2019 topical FPR briefs, this 2-page summary looks...
FPR2019 Topical Brief: 15 Quick Take-aways
June 2019
The IEU’s Forward-Looking Performance Review (FPR) encourages learning at the GCF. It achieves this by assessing if the GCF has delivered its objectives and by looking forward to the future through recommendations for enhancing the GCF’s performance. The overall objective of this review is to understand how the GCF can better serve the needs of developing countries by fulfilling the mandate provided by the UNFCCC. The first of four 2019 topical FPR briefs, this 2-page summary lists 15 key...
Challenges in real-world impact evaluations: Some learning on costs and timeliness
May 2019
The international development community has witnessed a surge in theory-based evaluations that use counterfactuals, also called impact evaluations, to establish the attributable impact of development interventions. Amid this growing interest in using impact evaluations, challenges exist in using these methods for real-world programmes and investments. Real-world impact evaluations are studies that evaluate and measure the causal change of government, non-government or multilateral assistance...
Complexity, climate change and evaluation
May 2019
As governments and multilateral institutions establish projects and programmes to mitigate and adapt to climate change, a question arises as to how we can determine their effectiveness. Impact evaluations have emerged in the social sciences as a prominent tool to determine the causal effect of policies and programmes in fields like health and economic development. However, climate change programmes tend to exhibit high levels of complexity, which may challenge their ability to be measured and...
Inception Report for the Independent Evaluation of the GCF's Country Ownership Approach
May 2019
This independent evaluation of country ownership will examine the extent to which the GCF has conceptualized and operationalized the principle of country ownership, as well as the extent to which country needs and country ownership have been incorporated into both the design and the implementation of GCF policies and practices.
Approach Brief: ESS2020
May 2019
To effectively and equitably manage the environmental and social risks of all its investments the GCF has adopted an Environmental and Social Management System (ESMS), comprising the Environmental and Social Policy and a set of internationally recognized Environmental and Social Safeguards (ESS) standards. This 2019 2-page introductory brief provides a pre-implementation summary of the IEU’s planned evaluation of the GCF’s assessment of the GCF’s ESMS. It describes the evaluation’s context,...
Approach Brief: COA2019
April 2019
Country ownership is central to the GCF’s pursuit of a paradigm shift towards low-emission and climate-resilient development in developing countries. Better understanding how well GCF is succeeding in ensuring countries take ownership of climate change investments can help improve the effectiveness of climate change actions on the ground. This 2019 2-page introductory brief provides a pre-implementation summary of the IEU’s planned evaluation of the GCF’s country ownership approach. It...
Becoming bigger, better, smarter: A summary of the evaluability of Green Climate Fund proposals
March 2019
The goal of the GCF is to support a paradigm shift towards low-carbon, high-resilience pathways. It is thus important to understand if such a paradigm shift is occurring, and, if so, to measure the extent to which the GCF has contributed to this overall result. We review 93 proposals funded by the GCF and assess their ability to credibly report their impacts, efficiency and effectiveness, in an evidencebased and robust way. There are two main aims of the study: The first is to assess the...
Approach Brief: FPR2019
February 2019
The IEU’s Forward-Looking Performance Review (FPR) encourages learning at the GCF. It achieves this by assessing if the GCF has delivered its objectives and by looking forward to the future through recommendations for enhancing the GCF’s performance. The overall objective of this review is to understand how the GCF can better serve the needs of developing countries by fulfilling the mandate provided by the UNFCCC. This 2020 2-page introductory brief provides a pre-implementation summary of the...