In 2025, IOD PARC was appointed by the UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) as the Independent Evaluation Partner for the UK’s involvement in the Lowering Emissions by Accelerating Forest Finance (LEAF) Coalition. This high-profile initiative is a public-private partnership designed to unlock barriers in the Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM) and catalyse large-scale private finance to reduce deforestation. The LEAF Coalition aims to create economic incentives for forest governments to preserve forests by making conservation more financially rewarding than deforestation. By supporting this initiative, the UK is helping to drive systemic change in global forest finance and contribute to sustainable development outcomes.

As part of this engagement, IOD PARC delivered two key outputs:

1. A Process Evaluation: This comprehensive evaluation assessed the UK’s £175 million contribution to the LEAF Coalition and an additional £25 million to the UK Technical Assistance Programme (UKTAP). It examined the relevance, coherence, effectiveness, and efficiency of the UK’s support, as well as its contribution to the development of jurisdictional REDD+ carbon markets. The evaluation also provided an in-depth analysis of the programme’s contributions to gender equality, disability, social inclusion, and equity, and included a value for money analysis and a review of the programme’s theory of change. Covering the period from 2021 to June 2025, the findings informed strategic decision-making for future climate finance programming.

2. An Options Paper for Future Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL): Building on the evaluation findings, this paper provided DESNZ with strategic recommendations for structuring and resourcing future MEL activities. It outlined minimum actions and scalable options to ensure that future evaluative work is evidence-based, proportionate, and aligned with the UK’s International Climate Finance objectives.

IOD PARC provided ongoing support to disseminate the findings and learning to a range of key LEAF stakeholders including the implementing partners and other sovereign donors amongst others.