CoAct Database (beta)
The CoAct Database is a platform that captures over a decade of climate action from cooperative climate initiatives. It compiles information on collaborative efforts in which multiple actors, such as governments, cities, businesses, civil society organizations, and international bodies, work together to advance climate action across borders and sectors.
For each initiative, CoAct tracks core characteristics including its goals and activities, governance and institutional design, participating actors, and key thematic linkages. These linkages include connections to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), priorities highlighted through the Global Stocktake under the Paris Agreement, and potential contributions to implementing the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, especially where climate action is designed to also protect, restore, or improve nature. Initiatives in this latter category are captured under the integrated nature–climate action (INCA) subset.
What are cooperative climate initiatives?
Cooperative climate initiatives are collaborative arrangements in which two or more actors work together to address climate change through mitigation and/or adaptation measures. They involve at least one non-state and/or subnational actor, such as cities and regions, businesses, civil society organizations, or transnational networks, and operate across borders, with implementation in and/or partners from two or more countries. The landscape of cooperative climate initiatives is diverse, ranging from technical implementation partnerships and finance platforms to standards, commitments, knowledge-sharing networks, and advocacy coalitions.
The rise of cooperative climate initiatives
Since the Paris Agreement was adopted in 2015, cooperative climate initiatives have expanded rapidly in number and scope. Across the CoAct Database, initiatives pursue a wide range of functions, ranging from mobilizing finance and setting standards to supporting implementation, building capacity, and sharing knowledge. Most initiatives focus primarily on climate mitigation, while the share of initiatives addressing adaptation, or combining mitigation and adaptation, has grown over time. Within this broader landscape, integrated nature-climate action (INCA) initiatives have also increased, reflecting growing attention to approaches that advance climate objectives while explicitly supporting the protection, restoration, or improvement of nature.
How are cooperative climate initiatives performing?
Are initiatives effective? The CoAct Database tracks the output effectiveness of cooperative climate initiatives over time. Output effectiveness is assessed in relation to an initiative’s functions, such as knowledge creation, capacity building, finance mobilization, or standard setting, and the tangible outputs it produces each year, for example reports, guidance documents, tools, events, or other deliverables. Are initiatives accountable? The CoAct Database tracks accountability across cooperative climate initiatives. This includes whether initiatives have mechanisms for membership oversight and decision-making, how monitoring is organized, what governance structures and formal bodies are in place, and the extent to which initiatives report on their activities over time. Are initiatives inclusive? The CoAct Database tracks how cooperative climate initiatives enable participation and representation across different actor groups. This includes the degree of institutional openness, opportunities to participate in decision-making and advisory bodies, and the diversity of actors involved in different roles. Do initiatives have the capacity to deliver? The CoAct Database tracks several indicators that shed light on whether cooperative climate initiatives have the organizational and operational capacity to translate ambitions into sustained action. This includes whether initiatives have dedicated staff or a secretariat to manage day-to-day operations, and whether they receive funding from specific actors.
Our methodology
The CoAct Database is built through systematic coding of publicly available information on cooperative climate initiatives. Sources include initiatives’ websites and subdomains, reports and other documentation, newsletters, news items, and social media channels. Coding follows a standardized codebook and an initiative-specific coding form. To support reliability and validity, initiatives are updated over time, usually by different coders, and entries are routinely checked for completeness and consistency. The CoAct team also holds regular calibration meetings to discuss interpretational questions and align coding decisions.
Where are initiatives implementing?
The geographic reach of cooperative climate initiatives are key aspects when assessing justice and equity. It can answer questions on who benefits from initiatives' implementation and who carries the load. Patterns can also give insight into if the global climate action landscape meets the principle of Common But Differentiated Responsibilities. The CoAct Database provides ample insights into the questions. For instance, the data shows that implementation is often happening in the Global North, particularly for mitigation focused initiatives.
Do initiatives contribute to global policy processes?
Cooperative climate initiatives can have broad impacts and thus contribute to global policy processes. The CoAct Database provides insights into several of these processes. For instance, impacts beyond climate change are mapped according to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The data shows that SDGs related to partnerships, sustainable cities and communities, and life on land are most often addressed. The database also contains links with the priorities for the Global Stocktake of voluntary climate action, which shows that innovation, entrepreneurship, finance and nature are import themes among initiatives.
Further research and analyses of cooperative climate initiatives
Research on cooperative climate initiatives has expanded rapidly in recent years. Recent studies examine how initiatives perform, how effective they are in practice, and what kinds of accountability arrangements they adopt. Questions of justice and equity, and the potential synergies and trade-offs between climate action and other sustainability goals, are also becoming increasingly central to this growing body of work.
How to cite us?
Chan, S., Reyes de la Lanza, S., van den Wall Bake, K., Hagenström, P., Glass, L. M., Fast, C., Hale, T., & Imbach, P. (2025). CoAct Database [Data set]. Radboud University; German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS); Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford; Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE).