Assessment of existing datasets for tracking progress towards the Global Goal on Adaptation (and beyond)

Tracking progress to reduce climate change risks through adaptation has become a topic of significant scientific and political interest. Especially under the Paris Agreement’s Global Stocktake and Global Goal on Adaptation, there are increasing calls for ways to assess progress on adaptation globally. The UAE Framework for Global Climate Resilience adopted during COP28 in December 2023 proposes the iterative adaptation cycle assessment framework of impacts, planning, implementation and evaluation for seven key thematic areas: water, food, health, ecosystems, infrastructure and settlements, poverty and livelihoods, and cultural heritage. The objective of this paper is to systematically map existing global datasets that are readily available for tracking progress towards the global goal on adaptation. We use a rapid review of scientific papers and screening of online repositories to map existing time-series datasets with global coverage (150 + countries) and validate our mapping with an online survey of experts (n = 12). Our results show that of the 56 datasets identified, some are readily available with conceptually clear indicators and comprehensive data coverage. Most of the datasets are focussed on ‘water, ‘livelihoods’, ‘food and agriculture’ and ‘health’ and mostly about impacts and risk assessments, rather than planning, implementation and evaluation. We reflect on how useful existing datasets are to assess progress on adaptation globally and what additional steps may be needed.

While 56 global datasets relevant for adaptation exist, major gaps remain – especially on planning and monitoring – highlighting the need for new data collection to track progress under the UAE Framework for Global Climate Resilience.
Most of the identified datasets relate to thematic targets around water, livelihoods, food and agriculture, and health, with hardly any datasets on cultural heritage
While large amount of adaptation relevant data are collected, most datasets are only collected once, documentation of the collection and analysis methods is scarce, and reliability and validity are rarely tested.
A balanced approach to tracking global adaptation progress should combine readily available data from key sectors with new sources – such as policy documents and private sector data – and support targeted collection to fill critical gaps across themes and dimensions.

While 56 global datasets relevant for adaptation exist, major gaps remain – especially on planning and monitoring – highlighting the need for new data collection to track progress under the UAE Framework for Global Climate Resilience.
Most of the identified datasets relate to thematic targets around water, livelihoods, food and agriculture, and health, with hardly any datasets on cultural heritage
While large amount of adaptation relevant data are collected, most datasets are only collected once, documentation of the collection and analysis methods is scarce, and reliability and validity are rarely tested.
A balanced approach to tracking global adaptation progress should combine readily available data from key sectors with new sources – such as policy documents and private sector data – and support targeted collection to fill critical gaps across themes and dimensions.