The AER Breakfast briefing took place on the 3rd March 2009 at 9.00 am at the Auvergne - Centre - Limousin interregional representation office and dealt with decentralized development cooperation projects in developing innovative solutions to climate change.

Tackling climate change issues through decentralized development cooperation

Development and solidarity: the key issue of climate change

Climate change is the defining human development challenge of the 21st Century.The poorest countries and most vulnerable citizens will suffer the earliest and most damaging impacts, even though they have contributed least to the problem.
The sustainable management of the natural environment is important in the fight against poverty, since the rural poor depend most on natural resources for their livelihood and are the most vulnerable to a degraded environment and to natural disasters.
The integration of the environmental dimension within develpment projects serves two main purposes. Firstly, it identifies and helps avoid any harmful direct and indirect environmental impacts of co-operation programmes in the different sectors. Secondly, it helps enhance environmental conditions, thereby bringing additional benefits to development and economic activities.

Decentralized cooperation: a regional approach to fighting climate change

The implementation of environmental policies necessary to successfully address the climate change challenge will only be achieved through involvement and commitment at all levels of decision-making.
Local and regional territories are indispensable actors in order to identify the most appropriate measures and to efficiently implement them in order to create sustainable development.

Project: Towards carbon neutral and climate change resilient territories

AER and the United Nations Development Programme, together with other organisations, are developing a common project which aims at implementing a local approach in order to fight climate change.
The territorial approach responds to a dual objective:
• To integrate climate and carbon related constraints in local planning instruments,
• To promote clean means of production and consumption at the local level.