USAID’s Climate Strategy: Limitations in Information Quality and Agency Processes Compromise Implementation

Why We Did This Audit

• USAID announced in April 2022 a new globally focused climate strategy with the 2030 goal of mitigating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 6 billion metric tons; conserving, restoring, or managing 100 million hectares of natural ecosystems; and mobilizing $150 billion of public and private finance to address climate change.
• According to USAID’s climate strategy, as temperatures and sea levels rise, increasingly heat waves, droughts, floods, cyclones, and wildfires are upending lives. Moreover, climate change is considered a global crisis that disproportionately impacts the poorest and most marginalized communities.
• We initiated this audit to examine the Agency’s preparedness to implement the new strategy and meet its mitigation-related targets. Specifically, our audit objective was to assess whether USAID has quality information to support implementation of its 2022–2030 climate strategy.

What We Found

• USAID did not have quality data to support its efforts to implement a comprehensive climate strategy. Specifically, the data was not complete, accurate, accessible, or current due to the design of USAID’s information system and the related processes the Agency used to collect and report data on its climate change mitigation activities. Consequently, USAID did not have the information to assess the success of its mitigation efforts.
• Weaknesses in the Agency’s processes for awarding funds, managing performance, and communicating climate change information could impede successful implementation of its strategy. While USAID reported $2.6 billion in funding for climate change mitigation from fiscal year 2011 to 2021, the Agency lacked complete information to effectively identify and support decisions regarding its resource needs.
• We also found that USAID’s performance management process did not produce useful information for assessing its mitigation results.
• Finally, the Agency lacked efficient processes for communicating comprehensive, consolidated information on its mitigation efforts to stakeholders. Failure to successfully address these issues will inhibit USAID’s efforts to implement its ambitious global climate strategy.

What We Recommend

• We are making five recommendations to improve the information and processes necessary to support the successful implementation of USAID’s climate strategy. The Agency agreed with all five recommendations.