Defra (2010) offers an example of an output indicator.

Illustrative example of an output indicator

An output of process that could contribute to improving the UK's resilience to our changing climate might be to ensure that the Government estate was embedding adaptation into its management. Progress by departments increasing their estates' resilience to the impacts of climate change might be monitored through an indicator that measures:

"the number of government departments improving the capacity of their estates to adapt to the impacts of climate change"

Levels of performance could be gauged through a grading system, (0 - 4) with a higher number representing further progress made in planning to adapt to climate change. '1' might represent gathering evidence or increasing understanding of the issues; whereas '4' might represent taking and reviewing actions based on a completed risk assessment and action plan. Such an indicator could be monitored annually or less frequently, e.g. once every few years.

Clearly no one set of indicators will work for all adaptation interventions and indicators must be chosen based on the relationship between planned adaptation activities and the context in which they are to be implemented.

Adaptme guidance (Pringle, 2011) offers some useful questions to consider when choosing indicators:

• Refer back to the objectives of the intervention - do the metrics and indicators help you to understand whether the objectives have been met?
• Consider and thoroughly test the logic behind your chosen indicators. Are they fit for purpose? Would they be more robust if worked into a package of indicators?
• How might changes in availability of data over the study period affect what can be measured, and when? This may affect which metrics you choose.
• Resist the temptation to distil your findings into a single number - this may be attractive to policy makers but does it tell them the full story?
• Remember that while metrics may be objective, the choice of indicators is not; these may reflect a particular framing of climate change. For example, a business may develop metrics to look at the economic viability of an adaptation action rather than examine the social distribution of benefits. Consider and challenge your own framing so it provides you with as full a picture as possible, as well as meeting your organisational needs.
• Quantitative metrics are attractive, but should be balanced with qualitative data which examines the facts behind the figures.
• Do the metrics you have chosen reflect a particular idea of success? Do you need to consider success from the point of view of other stakeholders or community members? For example, the success of a project to increase green space in urban areas could be measured in terms of reduced impact of the urban heat island effect, increased biodiversity or increased recreational space. All may be valid success measures depending on an individual's perception