How does evidence underpin policy in a ‘post-truth’ world? This paper analyses the relationship between evidence and policy in the field of climate change loss and damage - a policy area with high levels of political contestation in combination with high levels of urgency and societal stakes. The research uses an ethnographic approach based on participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and textual analysis and is situated in the UNFCCCs (United Framework Convention of Climate Change) ‘Executive Committee of the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage associated with Climate Change Impacts’. My findings show that the Executive Committee acts as a ‘knowledge generator’ (where they identify the research gaps, negotiate the research agenda, decide who will fill the research gaps and how the findings should be communicated) and an agenda-setter. Taking this into account, I critically discuss the implications this has on conventional ideas of how evidence informs policy. Furthermore, I elaborate on how ethnographic methods can help us to better understand this relationship in the context of climate change policy development.
