Menu
Tracking progress to reduce climate change risks through adaptation has become a topic of significant political interest and debate. Especially under the Paris Agreement’s Global Stocktake and Global Goal on Adaptation, there are increasing calls for ways to assess progress on adaptation globally. The COP28 decision text includes calls for an iterative adaptation cycle assessment framework for seven key thematic targets: water, food, health, ecosystems, infrastructure and settlements, poverty and livelihoods, and cultural heritage.
Yet there are many epistemological, normative, methodological, and practical challenges for tracking progress. For example, defining and determining “”progress”” is contested, with varying adaptation outcomes across societies. Methodologically, the choice between qualitative and quantitative approaches, as well as the selection of appropriate indicators, remains a point of political contention. Practical issues include incomplete or low-quality data, lack of detail and nuance in indicators, and difficulties in obtaining local or subnational data, particularly in places where adaptation is needed most.
The main objective of this paper is to provide a systematic assessment of existing datasets from various sources, including reports, scientific papers, and online repositories. We validate our results with an expert panel. The evidence synthesis provides key datasets with conceptually clear indicators and data, and assessing evidence gaps and limitations. We use these insights to reflect on how feasible existing datasets are to assess progress on adaptation globally and what additional steps may be needed.