Evaluating Environment in International Development

More than twenty years after the Earth Summit was held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, both national and international actors in governmental and nongovernmental fields are still searching for insights into how sustainable development can be advanced and environmental concerns incorporated into the development agenda more effectively. Moreover, climate change has emerged as a preeminent challenge to both the environment and to development. Evaluating Environment in International Development provides international perspectives and in-depth knowledge of evaluating development and the environment and applies evaluation knowledge to climate change mitigation and adaptation. The book focuses on the approaches and experiences of leading international organizations, not-for-profits, and multilateral and bilateral aid agencies to illustrate how systematic evaluation is an essential tool for providing evidence for decision-makers. It provides novel and in-depth perspectives on evaluating environment and sustainability issues in developing countries. Moving beyond projects and programmes, it considers aspects such as evaluating normative work on the environment and evaluating environmental consequences of economic and social development efforts. This original collection should be of interest to scholars of environment studies, development studies, international relations, sustainable development and evaluation, as well as practitioners in international organizations and development and environmental NGOs.

Table of Contents:
Forewords by Yolanda Kakabadse and Indran A. Naidoo Part 1. Introduction and Conceptual Background 1. Introduction: Evaluating Contributions to National Results in Environment and Development 2. A Global Public Goods Perspective on Environment and Poverty 3. Evaluation and the Reconciliation of Global Environmental Benefits with Local Development Part 2. Approaches and Challenges to Evaluating Environment in National Development 4. Evaluation at the Nexus: Principles for Evaluating Sustainable Development Interventions 5. Assessing Progress towards Impacts in Environmental Programmes Using the Field Review of Outcomes to Impacts Methodology 6. Meta-Evaluation of Climate Mitigation Evaluations 7. Small Grants, Big Impacts: Aggregation Challenges 8. A Programme Theory Approach to Evaluating Normative Environmental Interventions Part 3. Lessons from International Cooperation 9. Evaluating the Poverty-Environment Nexus in Africa 10. Evaluating Disaster Risk Management in the Face of Climate Change 11. Multiple Actors and Confounding Factors: Evaluating Impact in Complex Social-Ecological Systems 12. Evaluating International Support for Transboundary Aquifer Management Programmes 13. Green Economy Performance of Environmental Initiatives in Latin-America and the Caribbean 14. Evaluating Environment in United Nations Development Programme Country Programming: Evidence from China and India 15. Opportunities and Challenges of Evaluating Environment Joint Programmes: Lessons from the Millennium Development Goal Achievement Fund 16. The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research Approach to Impact Evaluation of Environment and Natural Resources Management

About the Author :
Juha I. Uitto is Deputy Director of the Independent Evaluation Office of the United Nations Development Programme.

Review :
As the evaluation community redefines itself to meet new environmental challenges and realities, this book will stimulate and push our conceptual thinking and practice as we reshape the way we design and manage evaluation to better support learning, accountability, innovation and change in an uncertain world. -Nancy MacPherson, Managing Director, Evaluation, The Rockefeller Foundation, USA This book is a must-read for anyone concerned about development and its effects on the environment. Bringing together experiences from a range of agencies and programs, the book cogently argues for evidence based development approaches founded on principles of environmental stewardship. And it illustrates how evaluations can support this endeavor. -Nidhi Khattri ,Head, Regional Centers for Learning on Evaluation and Results (CLEAR) Secretariat Independent Evaluation Group (IEG), World Bank, USA Evaluating Environment in International Development is a must read for academics and policy makers. In this book Juha Uitto brings together the best experts in the field. Evaluation is proving to be an increasingly strategic area in sustainable development and this book will be the place to go for years to come. -Jean-Marc Coicaud, Professor of Law and Global Affairs, Rutgers University, USA "[A]s a description of international efforts to improve the environment, challenges those efforts face, and difficulties in assessing success and failure, this collection is highly recommended. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Graduate students, professionals, and practitioners." -T. Brennan, CHOICE, University of Maryland, USA