UN Climate Change News, 4 June 2025 -- UN Climate Change and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) launched a new e-learning module on Impact Assessment of Climate Policy yesterday, marking a key milestone in their joint commitment to strengthen Parties' capacity to implement inclusive, informed and effective climate action.
This self-paced online training module is part of a broader course developed by UN Climate Change on the Impact of the Implementation of Response Measures, which also includes modules on stakeholder engagement, just transition, economic diversification, transparent reporting, and more, that will be released in the upcoming months.
Two modules of the course were released to the public yesterday -- Introduction to Response Measures and Impact Assessment of Climate Policy -- with the spotlight on the latter - a joint product of the UNFCCC secretariat, the Katowice Committee of Experts on the Impacts of the Implementation of Response Measures (KCI) and United Nation Development Programme under the Climate Promise, as the largest global offer of support for NDCs. It was developed to directly address the growing demand from countries for tools to assess and anticipate the potential effects of climate policies, especially as they formulate or revise their NDCs, NAPs, and LT-LEDS.
The launch event brought together UNFCCC's and UNDP's network and partners, including government representatives from Maldives, Chile and Ghana, who shared thoughtful reflections on why impact assessment is so essential for shaping fair, effective, and evidence-based climate policy. The opening event was attended by key stakeholders and featured a keynote address from James Grabert, the Director of UN Climate Change's Mitigation Division, and Jennifer Baumwoll, Head of Climate Strategies and Policy at UNDP's Climate Promise, highlighting the importance of embedding impact assessment into national climate planning.
"The first round of NDCs got us started. The second round raised ambition. But NDC 3.0? This is where we prove we can turn commitments into reality," said James Grabert, Director of UN Climate Change's Mitigation Division. "Together, through strengthened capacity and better-informed climate policies, we can accelerate the transition to a resilient, low-emission future that benefits all."
The course stems from the challenges and capacity gaps that Parties still face in conducting robust impact assessments, interpreting findings, and translating them into actionable strategies. This module seeks to close that gap, aiming to strengthen technical capacity in understanding and addressing the impacts of climate policy implementation, particularly in relation to their socio-economic and environmental dimensions.
Through ten interactive, self-paced lessons, learners are guided through the fundamentals of policy impact assessment - from data requirements to both qualitative and quantitative methods, including an overview of user-friendly modelling tools and interfaces, concluding with a lesson on how to evaluate the findings and communicate them. The content features a user-friendly and easy-to-navigate interface and is designed to be accessible, practical, and aligned with real-world policy needs, making it especially useful for policymakers, technical experts, and national planning teams.
The course is available online via the UNFCCC webpage, allowing learners from around the world to access high-quality training at their own pace.
This initiative underscores UN Climate Change's ongoing commitment to empowering countries with the tools and knowledge they need to implement response measures that are inclusive, data-informed, and grounded in real-world priorities - ensuring that no one is left behind in the transition to a low-carbon future.
"At the core of this effort lies a simple but powerful principle: we cannot manage what we do not measure," said Jennifer Baumwoll, Head of Climate Strategies and Policy, Climate Hub. "Climate action is not only about cutting emissions. It must also contribute to a country's socio-economic development and ensure that no one is left behind."
