Work Case Studies

Measuring what the reward pays for

Client: a multilateral development bank’s results-based climate finance instrument (anonymized) · Role: advisory inputs on the measurement and reporting framework

The challenge

A results-based instrument can only pay for results it can measure and an outside party can verify. The bank needed a measurement and reporting framework that fixed what to count, how to report it, and how an independent verifier would confirm it, credible enough to attach a financing benefit to confirmed results rather than stated intent. The harder question sat underneath: which indicators actually capture the change that matters, and how to keep the framework workable for the country that has to report against it year after year.

The approach

The work delivered advisory inputs on the measurement and reporting framework. It separated two things usually scored as one: whether the framework’s parts were internally consistent, and whether the indicators pointed at the right outcomes. It defined a short set of verifiable indicators, specified the reporting and verification steps so payment could follow confirmed results, and built the monitoring and evaluation around feedback and course-correction rather than a single end-of-term check. The design treated reporting as capacity to be built inside the country, not a form to be filed once.

The outcome

The advisory inputs shaped a measurement and reporting framework whose indicators can be independently verified and reported against on a repeatable basis. The monitoring and evaluation design lets the instrument detect a missed target early and adjust, and positions reporting as a lasting national capability rather than a one-off exercise. The wider principle holds across instruments: a reward changes behaviour only when what it measures is both coherent and correct, and when the institutions that report it survive a change of government.

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Making standing forests pay

Client: a national forestry commission and partner institutions in a forest-rich economy (anonymized) · Role: advisory and institutional strengthening

The challenge

A country earns results-based climate finance only if it can prove, year after year, that its forests are still standing. That demands national-scale measurement of forest change that outside funders will trust, and institutions that can hold the resulting revenue to a public purpose rather than spend a windfall. The agency had to do both at once: build a credible monitoring system and make the case that an intact forest is worth more as an asset than as cleared land.

The approach

The work bridged conservation science and governance reform. It strengthened the agency’s capacity to measure and report forest change at national scale, aligned forest-revenue mechanisms with the country’s low-carbon development strategy, and supported a forestry institution moving from a custodial role into a market-shaping one, where the task is to reward value-added production over raw extraction. It connected the forestry authority, a conservation research centre, and international partners around a shared standard of evidence. Throughout, the design treated the revenue as a means to build durable institutions, not as a payout to distribute.

The outcome

The engagement strengthened the institution’s ability to monitor and report forest change in a form that external partners would finance, and helped position the standing forest as a financed asset inside national development planning rather than a cost. It reinforced a principle that carries well beyond forestry: resource revenue is durable only when it builds institutions that survive a change of government.

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Services

Watkins Advisory provides specialist research, advisory, and evaluation services across Latin America and the Caribbean.

Clients include multilateral development banks, development finance institutions, and national governments working on climate policy, structural transformation, and sustainable infrastructure.

Research & Knowledge Products

Policy briefs, flagship reports, analytical frameworks, and evidence reviews are designed to inform decisions at the institutional and country level. Work includes: structural transformation diagnostics, green transition readiness assessments, technology deployment analyses, and country case studies for MDB knowledge programs. All outputs are grounded in verifiable evidence, clearly attributed, and designed for a policymaker audience.

Advisory & Strategic Support

Strategic advisory for institutions navigating green transition policy, institutional reform, and sustainable infrastructure governance. Work includes theory of change development, reform sequencing, stakeholder engagement design, and policy coherence analysis. Engagements range from short advisory inputs to sustained strategic partnerships across multi-year programs.

Evaluation & Review

Independent evaluation, mid-term and final reviews, and strategic assessments for development institutions and programs. Work includes climate finance effectiveness reviews, institutional capacity assessments, program evaluations, and independent reviews of flagship knowledge products. Grounded in mixed-methods evaluation practice with deep regional and sectoral expertise.

Training & Capacity Building

Tailored training programs and capacity-building workshops for government agencies and development institution staff. Topics include analytical frameworks for structural transformation, green transition governance, sustainable infrastructure design, and nature-based solutions. Delivered in English and Spanish.

Who I Work With

Multilateral development banks and development finance institutions
National and subnational government agencies in LAC
Conservation and development NGOs
International research institutions and think tanks
Philanthropic foundations working on LAC climate and development

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