Abbey Abramson

  Turning public data into public power Practical guide: turning public data into public power This section serves as a guide for citizens, journalists, and civil society organizations to independently verify, analyze, and advocate for greater transparency in climate and environmental projects. Treat each step as part of an iterative learning loop—ask, test, refine, and repeat. By viewing these practical actions as a continuous process—from setting baselines to publishing replication files—you can transform open data into meaningful oversight and accountability, echoing the Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) principles discussed earlier. Step 1 — Pin down the baseline (don’t move the goalposts). Before accepting “impact,” ask: Impact against what? For floods : historic water-level or depth maps per neighborhood; baseline water-logging days. For nature-based projects: initial canopy cover and species-site plan per plot; survival targets at 12 & 36 months. Document data ...