2024 Update Log: Methodology Underpinning the Systems Change Lab Platform

Platform Update
February 07, 2024
  • Added a new status — “Right Direction, No Target” — for indicators that do not have a specific numerical target, but it is still possible to say that historical change has been going in the right direction.  
  • Changed the names of statuses to clarify whether they are going in the right direction or not, to align with the State of Climate Action 2023 report. Previously the options for statuses were “On Track,” “Off Track,” “Well Off Track,” “Wrong Direction,” and “Cannot Calculate.” Now they are “Right Direction, On Track”; “Right Direction, Off Track;” “Right Direction, Well Off Track;” “Right Direction, No Target;” “Wrong Direction”; and “Cannot Calculate.”
  • Changed the names of several systems, as was decided as part of the peer review process for those systems: 
    • The Cities & the Built Environment system is now split into one system on Cities and another system on Buildings. 
    • The Food system has been renamed to the Food & Agriculture system. 
    • The Good Governance system has been renamed to the Governance system.
  • Updated the dates of the system launches.
  • Updated the explanation of the methodology for developing climate targets and indicators to be consistent with the State of Climate Action 2023 report, mainly relating to the explanation of the use of environmental and social safeguards.
  • Updated explanation of the selection of datasets to reflect how information is presented on the platform. The only substantive change is that we now present data for indicators disaggregated by individual technology or other relevant component parts when it is relevant and available.  
  • Updated the explanation of the assessment of progress toward targets to be consistent with the State of Climate Action 2023 report. These changes include the following:
    • Changed the names of the trajectories from “exponential change unlikely,” “exponential change possible,” and “exponential change likely” to “S-curve unlikely,” “S-curve possible,” and “S-curve likely.”
    • Clarified exceptions to the methodology when data is not fully available or when a datapoint is removed (e.g., because the 2020 value is an exception due to COVID-19 circumstances).
    • Updated the process of author judgment for categorizing progress for “S-curve likely” indicators to also include consideration of the stage of an S-curve that the indicator is in and fitting an S-curve to the existing historical data where appropriate.
  • Where previously we identified enablers and barriers, we now specify which indicators are enablers and which indicators are barriers, as a helpful reference for the direction of change needed.