3.2 Introduction

Introducing planetary health lenses in all evaluation projects involves identifying how the intervention interacts with the context. Interventions are both shaped by the context and shape it. On one hand, as we will experience in the coming years with more turbulent times due to climate change, the context is likely to change rapidly and impact the relevance of interventions. On the other hand, interventions also impact human and natural systems, and their impacts should be anticipated and assessed in all evaluation projects.

A rapid assessment is useful for quickly providing an overview of potential impacts on planetary health dimensions. This approach is different from an effect analysis, as it is not about causality. Furthermore, unlike effect analysis, which is a post-implementation activity, rapid assessments can be conducted at the design stage of the intervention as well as after its implementation. Below, we will describe the Rapid Assessment Tool for Planetary Health, how it can be tailored to your own evaluation context, and its contributions and uses. The full description of how to develop a Planetary Health Rapid Impact Assessment Tool, compile results, and use them for engagement is presented elsewhere (Brousselle et al., 2024b).