HIGHLIGHTS
- USAID had few models of its Climate Risk Management (CRM) policy in action.
- Abt collaborated with USAID to identify CRM models within projects.
- The resulting published CRM case studies and blogs show best practices and monetized results.
PROJECT
Climate Integration Support Facility-Case Studies
The Challenge
Climate change threatens human endeavors, including investments in developing countries. Since 2016, USAID has required that its new projects include a plan for Climate Risk Management (CRM), regardless of sector, to protect its investments and keep project goals on track. But few projects have done so formally, making it difficult to clearly show and quantify CRM benefits. USAID needed to raise the profile of projects that have integrated CRM in their design and/or implementation to demonstrate best CRM practices and results.
The Approach
Under USAID’s Climate Integration Support Facility (CISF), Abt worked with the agency to identify models of CRM integration in diverse projects covering agriculture, health, peacebuilding, fisheries, biodiversity, and water and sanitation. Abt shepherded a rigorous process to determine which projects offered the best potential for quantifiable and monetizable results. Abt and its small business partner, Carson+Co Global, then interviewed staff from projects and seven USAID Missions, as well as partners on the ground to generate CRM case studies that captured concrete results--plus blogs and videos for maximum reach and engagement.
The Results
On USAID’s Climatelinks website, Abt has posted case studies and blogs that show how CRM increased crop yields, created jobs for women in Kosovo, and avoided cattle losses while strengthening local governance in northern Uganda. Abt is quantifying CRM results from a USAID water and sanitation project in Haiti and USAID health and fisheries programs in the Philippines. Meanwhile, Abt’s blogs and videos, disseminated via USAID’s social media channels, are putting a spotlight on how CRM can protect and advance project progress while conveying shared benefits to women and other, more vulnerable populations.
Learn more about the CISF: