Much ado about nothing? Why adaptation measurement matters

ABSTRACT

Measuring the effectiveness of adaptation and tracking collective progress has received increasing attention across the domains of policy, finance and research. This is linked to the need to monitor and evaluate bilateral and multilateral adaptation finance as well as a commitment in the Paris Agreement to a collective global goal on adaptation and assessing the adequacy and effectiveness of adaptation in the global stocktake. In this viewpoint I argue that this focus on defining and measuring adaptation progress has underplayed the importance of how measurement might influence action.