​​​Evaluation of ABC Programme

 

Evaluation of the Atmospheric Brown Cloud (ABC) Programme was done twice, since it commissioned, by the independent Consultants from external agencies.

The evaluation process, using multi-pronged methodology, evaluated the overall progress made by the programme, within its framework, in terms of  actual outputs and progress with those planned activities and outputs. The review also diagnosed the problems and suggest corrective actions and adjustments along with the lessons learnt. Besides, the other attributes of evaluation include the efficiency of project management with respect to quality, quantity, timeliness and cost effectively.

At the outset, the evaluation process involved extensive review of all the concerned documents, reports, different white papers, minutes of the meetings, memoranda of understanding (MOUs), experts’ notes, Annual Progress Reports, and publications made on the subject by the project scientists and others, financial statements, internet information etc. identified for the purpose. Subsequently, a participatory approach was adopted for further analysis of the programme performance based on elaborated interactions and in-depth discussions either personally or by teleconferencing.

Based on the above exercise a matrix of year-wise project outputs under each objective component was prepared. A set of indicators for major evaluation factors was also evolved and the implementation performance efficiency was assessed adopting a standard framework for gradi​ng the performance attributes. The adopted grading system has been earlier satisfactorily deployed under different climate change project review assignments.

​ ​​​​​First evaluation of the ABC Programme (Project ABC) was done by Dr. A. L. Aggarwal in 2007.​

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The evaluator was highly satisfied with the progress and achievement made by the ABC Programme. He stated that  "the major achievements made during the period of ABC Programme implementation includes high quality information generated on the science of climate change under the influence of brown haze phenomena. The science-based knowledge generated through long-tern ground-based measurements as well as sophisticated field campaigns will be very vital for designing and conducting impact assessment studies in support of policy making process so that policy makers are better equipped with scientific facts for analyzing alternative mitigation strategies". ​

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​Second evaluation of the ABC Programme was done by two independent evaluators in 2013, separately  for scientific acheivements and policy perspectives.


Dr. Sachchida Nand Tripathi, Professor of Atmospheric Science at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur, India, was engaged for the evaluation of the ABC Programme in terms of its contribution in increased understanding of the science of ABCs.

Mr. Lars Nordberg, President of ScandEnvironment Advisory Services, Sweden, was engaged for the evaluation of the ABC Programme for policy perspectives, that is, the prospects and potential to contribute to national, regional, and global policy developments.

Both the evaluators, with their high satisfaction, agreed that the ABC Programme made a commendable significant progress, generating immense science-based knowledge that can be taken account in making environmental policy development at the national, regional, and global levels.

They states that "the ABC Programme is a highly science-driven programme that can form the backbone of national and international policy development. It was executed in an efficient manner with proper utilization of the budget. It has created a wealth of knowledge pertaining to ABCs with excellent capacity building of the participating countries for measurements of climate influencing constituents".