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Confronting Climate Change Challenges at the Local and Regional Levels

New Initiative Brings Search for Solutions to Decentralized Authorities

St. Malo/Geneva, 05 November 2008 - The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) launched a new initiative last week for regional and territorial governments to strengthen their capacities to address climate change challenges at the local and regional levels. It is expected that the new approach will bring additional resources to developing and emerging economies through collaborations with regional authorities in developed countries, and from carbon trading mechanisms.

The initiative was announced at the World Summit of Regions on Climate Change in St. Malo, France. The Summit, which drew more than 600 delegatesrepresenting 98 regions and 59 countries, was organized by the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR) and nrg4SD (Network of Regional Governments for Sustainable Development), at the invitation of Jean Yves Le Drian, President of Brittany Regional Council, and in partnership with the Forum of Global Associations of Regions (FOGAR) and UNDP.

Thenew UNDP climate change initiative emerged from a collaboration with the UN Environment Programme and several Associations of Regions, including the Global Forum of Regions Associations, nrg4SD, Northern Forum, the International Association of Francophone Regions, the Latin-American Organization for Intermediary Governments, the European Assembly of Regions, Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions, and the Climate Group.

Cecile Molinier, director of UNDP's Liaison Office in Geneva, said regional and territorial governments represent an essential tier with regard to good governance and effective development planning. "It is for this reason that most United Nations bodies are working in partnership with sub-national levels and are appealing for their voices to be heard within the framework of intergovernmental negotiations. We feel that a territorial approach to development allows us to better grasp the concerns and priorities of the populations."

Jean-Yves Le Drian, president of the Regional Council of Brittany, agrees. "Because of its closeness to the population, the regional level is perfectly aware of the nature of the issues at stake for its inhabitants; because it has planning responsibilities within its territory, it is able to design low-carbon methods to protect its area," he said. "Because it has influence over its economic fabric, it is able to encourage the development of new more environmentally friendly technologies. Because it has an informative role, it must be unrelenting in its efforts to convince, debate, and raise awareness on the fight against climate change."

Christophe Nuttall, director of UNDP's HUB for Innovative Partnerships, said the current approach to the climate change challenge favours the development of a wide array of small, dispersed and fragmented projects. "We believe it would be useful to develop a complementary, yet comprehensive integrated local planning framework that involves sub-national governments in the search for solutions," he said. "These sub-national authorities need to integrate climate and carbon related constraints in local planning instruments in order to transform their local economies into a vibrant force for sustainable development."

Yannick Glemarec, UNDP Executive Coordinator for the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) and UNDP Director for Environment Finance, said the new approach will prepare poor communities in developing countries to access new funding sources (carbon finance, special insurance products, innovative funds for adaptation, etc). "These funds will then be available to communities to channel into public projects that will reduce poverty, improve livelihoods and stimulate economic development."

The Summit, organized in association with the six-month French Presidency of the EU, the Committee of the Regions and UNDP, demonstrated the fact that climate change is an issue where the regional sphere cannot be left aside. "Regions are at the front line to combat climate change; they have to make their voice heard in order to feed the discussion with their direct experiences and best practises," said Danuta Hübner, EU Commissioner in charge of Regional Policy during the opening of the event in St. Malo.

As part of the climate change initiative, UNDP signed an agreement with ADEME (Agence de l'Environnement et de la Maîtrise de l'Energie, a French Environment and Energy Management Agency), to support developing countries to assess their carbon footprint and to develop an adaption plan that will prepare communities to face the challenges brought on by a changing climate, such as desertification, unpredictable weather patterns and migration.

UNDP also signed an agreement with the regional government of Brittany to establish a satellite system to monitor the changing climate. The project, dubbed "Climsat," will be based in Brest. It will seek to build a cartographic representation of the changing climate through images and sensory data collected from space. "We anticipate that Climsat will support regional governments to better understand the vulnerabilities of their environments, and to better prepare for any changes that may occur as a result of climate change," said Le Drian.

Several regional governments signed on to the UNDP initiative in St. Malo with letters of intent, including the regional governments in Basque (Spain), Britanny (France), Limousin (France) and Wales (United Kingdom).

More information at www.undp.org/geneva

Contact:

Adam Rogers
UNDP Senior Communications Advisor
+41 22 917 8541
adam.rogers@undp.org

UNDP is the UN's global network to help people meet their development needs and build a better life. We are on the ground in 166 countries, working as a trusted partner with Governments, civil society and the private sector to help them build their own solutions to global and national development challenges. Further information can be found at www.undp.org