The Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) Guide supports cities in identifying appropriate tools to assess the costs and benefits of various climate interventions. It draws on a curated collection of open-access CBA tools and helps users find the ones most relevant to their project context.
Through a simple questionnaire, users are guided to suitable tools based on key project characteristics, needs and resource availabilities. Based on user responses, the tool recommends a first-best and second-best CBA tool.
Supporting documents and data sources are also provided in the Guide to help cities move forward with implementation.
Municipalities often face challenges in conducting cost-benefit analyses because they have limited financial and technical resources, existing CBA tools are often complex, and it can be difficult to quantify environmental and social benefits with accuracy.
The content of this Guide is based on a literature review and an analysis of publicly available CBA tools carried out by the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI). The algorithm developed to help select the most suitable CBA tools uses a scoring system, where tools receive higher scores the better they match the criteria chosen by the user. In addition, the Guide includes links to relevant data sources, as well as guides and case studies, to support users in applying the selected CBA tool effectively.
Dr. Stelios Grafakos
stelios.grafakos@gggi.org
