Development of a methodology for the evaluation of German Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change

The German Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change (DAS) and the associated Adaptation Action Plan are central pillars of German adaptation policy. Over the long term, the Federal Government is pursuing the goal of reducing the vulnerability of the economy, environment and society to the impacts of climate change. In order to achieve this, a number of tangible measures have been implemented at various levels in recent years. As the basis for future activities, a monitoring report and an analysis of German’s vulnerability to climate change were created in 2015. For 2019, it is planned that DAS and the strategic elements associated with it are to be evaluated in a progress report.

For the technical preparations for the evaluation of the DAS procedures, adelphi is developing and testing an appropriate methodology together with CEval. However, such an evaluation sometimes takes shape with difficulties: firstly, the identification of cause-effect relationships between adaptation activities and reduced vulnerability is not unproblematic. Secondly, the development of quantitative, measurable goals represents a major task. The methodology which is to be developed will take account of these and other challenges in the evaluation of adaptation strategies and also develop appropriate solutions.

To this end, adelphi is analysing and assessing exiting methods for the evaluation of national adaptation and sustainability strategies. During this process, it is also being examined to what extent individual factors can be sensibly carried over into the evaluation of DAS procedures. The outcomes of the evaluation and the suggested methodologies which follow will finally be discussed during several workshops with the relevant political stakeholders. To close, the methodology will be tested in a pilot procedure and the insights gained will be included in the eventual finalisation of the evaluation method.