Planning climate compatible development: lessons from experience

The document argues that climate compatible development (CCD) planning in developing countries is often skewed toward external accountability to secure international finance, which can lead to ineffective domestic outcomes. To address this, the authors analyze experiences from the Rio Conventions and Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) processes, recommending multi-stakeholder engagement, evidence-based planning, wide communication, integrated planning across sectors and scales, and robust monitoring and evaluation to ensure that CCD strategies address real domestic needs while meeting international standards.

• A primary challenge for climate compatible development (CCD) is the tension between 'upward' accountability to international support frameworks and 'downward' accountability to domestic needs, with planning often skewed toward external requirements.
• Multi-stakeholder engagement is essential for local ownership and integrated solutions, but it is often consultative rather than participative and frequently fails to be institutionalised beyond the preparation of national documents.
• Effective CCD planning must be evidence-based, using tools like root-cause analysis and climate change scenario planning to avoid 'wish-lists' of projects that do not address the actual drivers of poverty and climate vulnerability.
• Integrated planning is necessary to avoid fragmented, stand-alone projects; this involves incorporating climate objectives into country-wide development frameworks, sectoral plans, and budgetary systems.
• Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) frameworks are frequently missing or inadequate in national plans, with fewer than 10 per cent of reviewed PRS processes having sound M&E frameworks as of 2008.

APA

Kaur, N., & Ayers, J. (2010). Planning climate compatible development: lessons from experience. Climate and Development Knowledge Network. https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/Planning-CCD.pdf

Chicago

Kaur, Nanki, and Jessica Ayers. Planning climate compatible development: lessons from experience. Climate and Development Knowledge Network, 2010. https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/Planning-CCD.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Kaur |first1=Nanki |last2=Ayers |first2=Jessica |title=Planning climate compatible development: lessons from experience |publisher=Climate and Development Knowledge Network |date=December 2010 |url=https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/Planning-CCD.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{kaur2010planning, author = {Kaur, Nanki and Ayers, Jessica}, title = {{Planning climate compatible development: lessons from experience}}, institution = {Climate and Development Knowledge Network}, year = {2010}, month = dec, url = {https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/Planning-CCD.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }