Compilation of Illustrative Targets and Indicators for the Global Goal on Adaptation

Summary

This is an illustrative compilation of indicators and targets that can be considered relevant to the GGA. This document is intended to support negotiators in making choices about the structure of the framework, the potential targets and indicators that could be included, and the potential development of new targets and indicators where needed. This document is not intended as a suggestion of what the final GGA framework should look like.

This exercise aims to illustrate and support the position that a GGA framework could be based on existing indicators, in order to avoid additional burden on countries. The authors acknowledge that new indicators may be needed to reflect country priorities, to be grounded in locally-led and bottom-up processes that engage stakeholders in indicator and metric development, and to capture adaptation issues that are not currently well tracked or that may arise in the future due to climate changes. However, these indicators may not need to be included in a global GGA framework, but rather in national and subnational processes.

The GGA should aim to accommodate a diversity of metrics, build on existing systems to avoid additional burden on countries, and strengthen national Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning systems and capabilities. Metrics should be both quantitative and qualitative and provide contextual richness in addition to aggregable metrics. The authors also recognize that indicators and targets for monitoring collective progress on the GGA must be accompanied by evaluation and learning exercises. As such, the information in this compilation must be considered within the wider potential evaluation and learning roles and processes that can be adopted under the GGA. 

STRUCTURE, THEMES AND CROSS-CUTTING ELEMENTS:

For ease of navigation, this document presents separate tables for each element of the adaptation cycle, using the definitions of the UN Climate Change regime for the different elements of the policy cycle.

This compilation has consolidated the themes suggested in the COP 27 decision following the grouping suggested by Canada in its submission to the GlaSS work programme in February 2023. The authors acknowledge these are not agreed and may change in future negotiations. They use the following groupings:

• Health and wellbeing – including food, water, health, cultural heritage, society;
• Infrastructure – including cities, settlements, key infrastructure, energy and industrial infrastructure;
• Economy and workers – including poverty and livelihoods, mobility and migration;
• Nature and biodiversity – including terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems, oceans and coastal ecosystems, mountain regions, polar regions and biodiversity. 

This article is an abridged version of the original text, which can be downloaded from the right-hand column. Please access the original text for more detail, research purposes, full references, or to quote text.

Further resources

• SUGGESTED CITATION:United Nations Foundation. (2023). Compilation of Illustrative Targets and Indicators for the Global Goal on Adaptation. Available at:  https://www4.unfccc.int/sites/SubmissionsStaging/Documents/202305311331—United%20Nations%20Foundation.pdf