Taking the long view: a longitudinal perspective on accountability capabilities and capacity of IGOs to adapt to grand challenges

Intergovernmental organisations (IGOs) face major challenges of legitimacy and accountability as parameters for their work in global governance dramatically change as a result of climate change and new demands of delivery on global public goods including health. What is it that enables intergovernmental organisations focused on global public goods, including health, to adapt, or what might prevent them from doing so from an internal reform perspective? The World Bank, the World Health Organization, and the World Trade Organization are reviewed regarding their accountability capabilities and organisational reform dynamics in relation to climate change, used as a proxy theme to test global organisations’ capacity to adapt in the face of a major cross-cutting challenge. The three organisations responded to changing external dynamics in very different ways. Three major factors emerge as critical for organisational adaptation and change: outward facing accountability, top- and mid-level leadership; and dynamic learning capabilities that inform strategic change.