Evaluation of the UN Secretariat’s Business Partnerships on Climate Change

Project context

GPPi supported the Inspection and Evaluation Division of the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) with an evaluation of the UN Secretariat’s business partnerships in the area of climate change.

Climate change has become a defining issue for the UN, and business partnerships are an important tool for achieving its goals. With the bulk of investments to address climate change mitigation and adaptation expected to come from business, the UN has established numerous partnerships for a variety of purposes, from engaging with businesses to effect change in their own strategies and operations to sponsoring innovative renewable energy finance mechanisms.

Twenty-one partnerships associated with six UN Secretariat entities were assessed, including the UNEP and the Global Compact. These represented a wide diversity of objectives and structures and involved major business sectors such as finance, construction, automotive and renewable energy industries.

The primary contribution from GPPi was to understand the private sector contribution to the partnerships, to evaluate the different forms of business outcomes and to assess the level of attribution reasonable to the partnerships.

An evaluation method was developed in order to assess the partnerships according to the OECD DAC standards of relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, impact and sustainability. The partnerships were segmented in order to be able to make comparisons and draw conclusions across partnerships. Causal chains for each of the partnership segments were developed. Comparable types of partnerships and other cooperative engagements were identified for each segment in order to have benchmarks against which to measure the UN entities’ performance.

The methods employed included reviews of partnership documentation, namely baseline assessments, annual reports, progress reports and (where available) evaluations. An online survey of UN staff as well as business, government and civil society partners was conducted. Forty-two interviews were held with direct partners and four interviews with representatives from the benchmark groups.

For more information, please contact Martin Sprott