Climate Change Adaptation Strategy MERI framework

NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water

Project timeframe: 2024

The Challenge

The past decade has been recorded as the hottest globally, with 8 out of 10 years breaking the record for the hottest year. NSW has experienced significant climate change, warming 1.4°C, faster than the global average. The NSW Government has committed to:

  • achieving net zero emissions by 2050
  • halving emissions by 2030
  • making NSW more resilient to a changing climate.

The NSW Climate Change Adaptation Strategy (the Strategy) aims to bolster resilience and adaptation to climate change impacts. It aims for a well-adapted built environment, natural environment, economy, and society. The Strategy is backed by an investment of $93.7 million for 16 strategic adaptation actions, centred on developing metrics for climate risk, assessing climate risks and opportunities, delivering action plans, and embedding adaptation in government processes.

The Objective

In 2024, the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) commissioned ARTD Consultants to create a Monitoring, Evaluation, Reporting, and Improvement (MERI) framework for the Strategy. ARTD had successfully developed the overarching program logic for the Strategy the year before.

The MERI framework included key evaluation questions, monitoring indicators, implementation guidance for monitoring, reporting and improvement activities, an evaluation timetable through to 2030, a high-level plan for process, outcomes and economic evaluations, and a monitoring and evaluation matrix detailing indicators and data sources.

Along with the MERI framework, ARTD developed program logics for the actions under the Strategy. These program logics were ‘nested’ into the overarching program logic for the Strategy to show how the actions contributed to the outcomes for the Strategy as a whole.

Our guiding principle in designing the framework was to enable DCCEEW to track the Strategy’s implementation and outcomes in way that allowed for adaptive management. Climate change policy and research are evolving rapidly. The Strategy will contribute to the evidence base for effective adaptation, and the MERI framework ensures that DCCEEW can adjust its approach as needed.

Our Approach

ARTD’s approach to this project was collaborative and iterative, involving all the internal teams involved in implementing the Strategy. This ensured comprehensive buy-in and clarity of purpose for the MERI framework.

We started with workshops to develop nested program logics for the Strategy actions, which we then mapped to the overarching program logic for the Strategy.

We held further workshops to develop and refine the key evaluation questions and monitoring and evaluation matrix, considering available data collections and stakeholder priorities.

We then collated the various inputs to draft the MERI framework.

The Impact

This project resulted in a practical framework to guide monitoring, evaluation, reporting and improvement processes for the duration of the NSW Climate Change Adaptation Strategy. The framework establishes procedural foundations for assessing the Strategy’s progress, ensuring responsive and evidence-based decision-making. This initiative underscores NSW’s commitment to improving the state’s resilience to climate change.

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