These guidelines are intended to show how economic tools can be used for a stakeholder-focused approach to planning and evaluating adaptation to climate change. Using cost-benefit analysis (CBA) as an overall framework, this guidance document presents the basic steps of an approach that enriches traditional economic analysis by focusing on stakeholders in the water sector. The guidance is informed by a project involving case studies in Nepal, Bangladesh, Morocco, Malawi and Bolivia. These case studies, all located in areas facing the impact of climate change in the water sector, used stakeholder approaches to undertake economic analyses of adapting to climate change. The added value of the stakeholder-focused approach lies in the way that CBA is undertaken and its findings used to inform adaptation actions and policies.