International Climate Fund (ICF)

Effective and efficient Monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) Kate Dowen, Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS)

International Climate Fund – New Starter Pack 3

Scaling up Climate Finance

Climate Finance Figures: The UK Government set up the International Climate Fund in 2010 to provide £3.87bn between April 2011 and March 2016 In September 2015, the Prime Minister announced that the UK would significantly increase our climate finance over the next five years, providing at least £5.8bn ($9bn) by 2020.

The ICF Portfolio 2016 – 2021

DFIDBEISDefra

DFID - focusing in the poorest countries primarily on adaptation. BEIS - focused on mitigation. Defra- the smallest portfolio with a focus on forestry and biodiversity.

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Diverse ICF Portfolio

Adaptation/Resilience CCRIF ARC stARCK+ BRACED

Forestry REM BioCF FCPF

Capacity Building CCS 2050 Pathways PMR ADB TA TCAF CDKN Private Finance

PPCR SEEC REEP

Technology CTF PMEH

Small Island Developing States PPCR SEEC REEP

Improving Architecture NAMA GCF Ci-Dev

Key BEIS Projects DFID Projects

…Senior support for strong PMO and M&E

Key Performance Indicators

• 16 KPIs – being used and reviewed • Annual reporting – supports annual reviews. • Aggregation – provides programme level data,

useful for communicating impact, but doesn’t help us make programming decisions

ICF Theory of Change

Overall ICF Results to date, as of March 2015

KPI Key Performance Indicator Achieved Results

(2011-2015)

Expected Results (programme

lifetime)

1 People supported to cope with Climate Change 15,000,000 53,000,000

2 People with clean energy access 2,600,000 33,000,000 5 Jobs created 39,000 100,000 6 GHG avoided (t CO2e) 2,300,000 430,000,000 7 Installed capacity (MW) 190 3,100 8 Area of deforestation avoided (hect.) 6,600 7,800,000 9 Units low carbon technology installed 310,000 3,600,000

11 Public finance mobilised (£) 1,200,000,000 3,700,000,000 12 Private finance mobilised (£) 330,000,000 3,400,000,000

Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/463954/ICF_Results_Note_Final.pdf

The ‘L’ in MEL

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Monitoring and Evaluation are primarily done for two purposes:

ICF portfolio aims for ‘transformational’ change. This required pioneering new approaches. By its nature a riskier portfolio, for which learning (for future spend) is essential! Greatest value is learning…

Challenges for donors

International Climate Fund – New Starter Pack 5

• Large diverse portfolio across the ICF • Donor’s distance from results and activity on the ground yet a need for

accountability for taxpayer money. How do we learn across 200+ programmes, across 30 countries, with a

huge range of delivery partners? How can we be assured of the quality and consistency of reporting across

the portfolio? • ICF, by its nature, aims to test innovative approaches, which requires more MEL

activities than traditional approaches, to learn if it is working and why or why not • Large scope and multiple objectives means that no one indicator is a good

indication of achievement. Need indicators for mitigation, forestry, adaptation, leverage, etc.

• Transformation – donors potentially choose higher risk programmes (as they have higher transformational potential) but may not produce as high results in other areas as more conventional approaches.

• Harmonisation of results frameworks with other MDBs and donors. How do we ensure that our KPIs record comparable results to those by other donors and MDBs?

MEL and programme management

International Climate Fund – New Starter Pack 5

Strong programme management function with MEL embedded into process creates a number of benefits:

1. MEL considered early (in Business

Cases)

2. Annual reviews use robust analysis

(KPI) – resource efficiencies and better quality

reviews!

3. MEL activity feeds directly into

programme and portfolio decision

making cycles.

3 Levels of MEL

International Climate Fund – New Starter Pack 5

Level Activity Purpose

PORTFOLIO Aggregated KPIs Portfolio evaluation – Compass contract

Monitoring & accountability Learning & accountability

PROGRAM Logframe monitoring Results collection against KPIs Prioritised evaluations activity

Published annual report and assessment of programme Annual report and portfolio evaluations Future investment decisions, annual reports, accountability (verification of monitoring), case studies

PROJECT Project level monitoring run by fund manager Project level evaluation activity run fund manager

Feeds into programme level Feed into programme level Provides tangible case studies

Climate Change Compass – Portfolio level MEL

International Climate Fund – New Starter Pack 5

Monitoring - Review of KPIs to determine if methodologically fit for purpose; - Use and usability - Harmonisation with other funds Evaluation - Strategic learning questions selected by stakeholders across the ICF. - All learning questions take the form of: What works, for whom, in what circumstances, how and

why? Rather than just trying to measure impact. - Evidence used to answer learning questions is taken from across ICF portfolio’s published

evaluations and published documents from other MDBs, donors. Learning - Facilitation and learning experts help with consultation and engagement through monitoring

and evaluation processes - Develop internal intranet to share lessons learned & documents across ICF portfolio. - Communications and graphic designers available to help - Stakeholder mapping done to understand potential audiences needs – i.e. who needs to learn

what and how do they learn best?

Concluding Remarks • Quality of climate finance matters as much as its quantity. ICF was

established to learn more about what works and does not work for the benefits of the international community. The results are hugely valuable for accountability, and learning – providing a key project management tool.

• This can only be achieved by comprehensive and rigorous MEL. Key to

success is embedding results collection into the project management cycle (yearly process).

• Reporting across a portfolio is difficult and requires dedicated analytical

resource. Monitoring and reporting is most effective when it is combined with evaluation and learning activities. The Compass programme will allow us to learn about MEL

• Publication is key! Allowing greater comparability, building the

international communities skills, and for accountability/transparency.