Climate shocks, ecosystem degradation, and slow-onset environmental change are fundamentally reshaping the conditions in which Graduation programs operate. Without deliberate design changes, even highly effective poverty-reduction programs risk seeing their hard-won gains eroded or reversed as climate stress intensifies. This guidance note, produced by Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), offers a practitioner-oriented framework for integrating climate adaptation and nature-positive principles into existing Graduation programs.

The note introduces the concept of a Climate and Nature-Positive (CNP) lens — defined as multidimensional support packages that enable poor and climate vulnerable households to achieve sustainable, resilient livelihoods by (a) reducing climate risk and vulnerability, and (b) aligning livelihood trajectories with nature positive development, in line with IPCC climate-resilient development pathways (CRDPs).