Parties agreed to a framework for the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA)—known as the UAE Framework for Global Climate Resilience (UAE Framework)—at the 5th Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA5) in Dubai (December 2023). The purpose of the UAE Framework is to guide the achievement of the GGA and review its overall progress. Seven thematic and four iterative adaptation cycle targets were agreed to as part of the UAE Framework.

Under the two-year UAE–Belém work programme to collect and map indicators for monitoring progress under targets for the UAE Framework—which concludes at CMA7 (November 2025)—the Subsidiary Bodies (SB) Chairs mandated 78 experts to refine or develop relevant indicators. As of September 2024, 5304 indicators were compiled, many overlapping. The current goal is to reduce this to 100 indicators, and the selection process is ongoing.

At the 62nd Subsidiary Bodies (SB62) in June 2025, Parties will continue deliberations on the outcomes from the UAE–Belém work programme in preparations for CMA7, where the indicators will be considered and adopted.

This paper examines considerations for selecting the 100 indicators under the UAE Framework and explores a number of emerging issues that are complicating efforts to do so. These emerging issues include: data gaps; the context-specific nature of certain indicators; questions around whether expert work should continue beyond SB62; the level of ambition intended for the indicators; and concerns regarding metadata.