Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Roundtable: Addressing Inequalities Among Cities Resulting from Climate Change

(Energy and Environmental Policy)

This roundtable will discuss the role evaluation can play in measuring and addressing the inequalities that have arisen among the world’s large cities in terms of the ways in which climate change affects their residents and the cities’ ability to respond to climate change through mitigation or adaptation. The session will start with a brief orientation to help the audience understand the challenges climate change poses for cities and the variation among cities in risks and resources. Four experts working in this area will then talk about policy issues that stem from inequities and the role evaluation could have in developing effective policy approaches. In part, the discussion will focus on the tension between poorer counties who feel that wealthier countries will not provide needed capital and wealthier countries who are concerned that funds will not be spent wisely. This tension is evident in the difficulties faced by the Green Climate Fund as it tries to match donors with projects. Evaluations can provide some needed transparency to that investment process. Along with more basic auditing functions, evaluations can help recipient cities show that investments proceeded largely as planned while also helping donors and recipients understand the investments’ effects. Evaluations could also spur action by providing some examples of successful investments.