A flagship research initiative of CCAIE
Making subnational climate implementation visible
Climate commitments become real through institutions, budgets, public systems and implementation on the ground. CAI examines what can be independently established about that process — who is responsible, how resources move, what is delivered, what results can be measured and where implementation becomes difficult to trace.
Why now
The question is no longer only whether climate commitments exist. It is whether the institutions responsible for implementation can plan, finance, coordinate, deliver and measure them.
63%
of Parties in the latest NDC synthesis recognize subnational entities as partners in planning, implementation or monitoring.
23%
of Africa's estimated climate-finance needs are currently being met.
1.4bn
projected African urban population by 2050 — while more than half of future urban infrastructure is yet to be built.
What CAI does
CAI builds evidence, diagnoses breaks, strengthens failing systems and returns to establish what changed.
- 01
Observe
Build traceable implementation records from authoritative evidence.
Observe - 02
Diagnose
Find where systems break, fragment or become unobservable.
Diagnose - 03
Strengthen
Work with institutions to fix the failing capability.
Strengthen - 04
Track
Return over time to establish what changed and why.
Track
How implementation becomes traceable
One model runs through everything CAI does: eight stages at which implementation either leaves a public record or becomes unobservable. Select a stage.
Stage 04 · Budget / resources
What was committed, from which source, in which budget lines?
What would establish it
Appropriation law, budget book, donor agreement, programme allocation
Applicable commitment / responsibility
Which climate objective applies here, and who is responsible for it?
NDC, adaptation plan, sectoral policy, state climate policy, statutory duty
Authority
Does the responsible body have the legal and administrative power to act?
Enabling law, executive order, gazetted mandate, constitutional allocation
Institution
Which agency, unit or office actually holds the function?
Organogram, establishment instrument, staffing record, coordination arrangement
Budget / resources
What was committed, from which source, in which budget lines?
Appropriation law, budget book, donor agreement, programme allocation
Execution
What was actually released, procured and spent?
Budget performance report, audited accounts, procurement record, disbursement
Delivery
What was physically or institutionally delivered, where, and by whom?
Completion certificate, commissioning record, project register, monitoring report
Outcomes
What changed for people, systems or risk as a result?
Beneficiary data, service coverage, hazard exposure, resilience metrics
Measurement / target performance
Was the result measured against a baseline and a target, and is it reportable?
MRV record, GHG inventory, target register, national reporting submission
Asked at every stage
- Who?
- State / subnational · National / federal · Local · Donor / development programme · Private · Shared
- Where?
- Jurisdiction · Project geography · Affected population
- Who paid?
- Domestic public · National public · External public · Private · Blended / shared
- Who benefited?
- Where relevant to the intervention
- What national objective?
- NDC · Adaptation plan · Sectoral policy · Other applicable national framework
- What evidence?
- Source · Date · Provenance · Confidence / verification status
Work with CAI
Governments, funders and researchers who need implementation evidence rather than promotional summaries can work with CAI.
Collaboration
