Understanding climate assessment types

Climate change, risk and vulnerability terms are used inconsistently across donors, consultants, and guidance documents, even though the underlying science is largely the same. This has led to confusion about assessment types, methods, and expected outputs for both clients and practitioners. Clarifying these distinctions helps align expectations during tendering and delivery. Different assessment types emphasise risk, vulnerability, or both, and each requires different inputs, levels of effort, and produces different types of outputs. Selecting the correct assessment depends on local context, key uncertainties, and project priorities. Understanding the limits of each approach is essential to avoid misuse and overinterpretation. 

In the attached PDF, we define the four main types of climate change, risk/vulnerability assessments and their makeup.

1. Climate Change Assessment (CCA)

2. Climate Risk Assessment (CRA)

3. Climate Vulnerability Assessment (CVA)

4. Climate Risk and Vulnerability Assessment (CRVA) 

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