Date: 09 Jul 2021
CCMA publish Literature Review to inform KPI development
The Local Authority Climate Action Charter requires local authorities to monitor, evaluate and report annually on the implementation of activities under the Charter and as such it is incumbent on the sector to identify a range of Key Performance Indicators (KPI) that will measure and track progress of each local authority, and the sector generally, against the objectives of the Charter.
As noted in our sectoral strategy – Delivering Effective Climate Action 2030, climate action impacts upon all elements of local authority operations, and as such, levels of mainstreaming need to be monitored in both the areas of mitigation and adaptation.
Much work on identifying a set of indicators had been undertaken by CARO in 2020, and to devekop this further the CCMA Climate Action, Transport and Networks (CATN) Committee established a Climate Action Key Performance Indicators Working Group, comprised of representatives from the CCMA CATN Committee, local authority staff working in the delivery of climate actions as well as staff from the East and Midlands CARO and LGMA Research Unit.
The Group was tasked with developing a set of sectoral climate action indicators that would facilitate tracking the delivery of actions under the Climate Action Charter and initially commissioned a literature review to ensure an evidence informed methodology was being used to advance the work, a key objective outlined in the LGMA Corporate Plan.
An extensive amount of national and international literature was reviewed for the report, and key themes were identified that should be considered when developing climate related indicators. For instance, the distinction between process (or policy) and outcome indicators is important as the former enable us to monitor whether the relevant infrastructure is put in place to support climate actions.
The literature also identifies that the development of indicators can be an incremental and sometimes iterative process that needs on-going review and updating to ensure the right outcomes and policy actions are being tracked. It reminds us also that some indicators will be time limited while others will be in place for the longer term.
Overall, the research findings provide a very useful platform from which local government in Ireland can begin the process of developing sectoral indicators while bearing in mind that simplicity, reliability and ease of implementation are the cornerstones that will inform those we select.
The literature review published today will assist in the development of KPIs for local government in Ireland and may also play a role in supporting various other stakeholders internationally, nationally, regionally and locally, who may be involved in developing their own indicators now, or into the future.
The report can be downloaded HERE.