DEVCO launches new guidelines and a technical assistance facility to support the integration of environment and climate change in EU Cooperation

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Climate Change Agreement demand a radical acceleration of efforts to integrate, or mainstream, environment and climate change concerns and objectives across all sectors of EU international cooperation and development. DEVCO launches new guidelines and a technical assistance facility to support these efforts.

The new Guidelines for integrating the environment and climate change into the EU international cooperation and development and a new Mainstreaming Technical Assistance Facility were presented at an event that took place this Wednesday 18^th of May, 2016, at the Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development (DEVCO) in Brussels.

Veronique Lorenzo, Head of Unit DEVCO.C2 expressed that “environment is not anymore considered a cross-cutting issue, it is a pillar of our development. We have committed to dedicating 20% of our budget to climate change and, following the Hyderabad conference, we need to double our expenditure on biodiversity until the year 2020.Mainstreaming is essential to fulfilling these commitments.”

Peter Craig McQuaide, Head of Unit DEVCO.C6, said that “after the Paris Agreement in 2015 and the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, environment and climate change need to be more systematically integrated into our cooperation programmes. Every colleague who is involved in programming and implementing development cooperation, in a delegation or in headquarters, has a part to play. Our work can make a real contribution to the EU's long-term legacy in advancing environmental sustainability and climate change mainstreaming in developing countries”.

The aim of the ECC Mainstreaming Facility is to support the systematic integration of environment, climate change and biodiversity into the EU cooperation cycle of operations.The Facility's team of specialists is already available to EU staff and partner countries, providing both on-site and remote assistance. The Facility supports the screening and review of action documents in priority sectors such as agriculture, food-nutrition security and rural development; energy; private sector development and employment; transport and infrastructure; and water, sanitation and waste management. They also support DEVCO in the tracking, monitoring and reporting on contributions to the specific targets for environment and biodiversity conservation, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and combating desertification.

Likewise, training seminars are foreseen to be provided on a regular basis to EU staff in Delegations, stakeholders in partner countries and in Brussels. The training agenda is published on Syslog and Capacity4Dev.eu sites.

For more information:

To access the guidelines, sector notes and other tools and services, join the Environment, Climate Change and Green Economy group on Capacity4Dev:

http://capacity4dev.ec.europa.eu/public-environment-climate/minisite/2-tools-and-methods

To request assistance from the Technical Support Service at DEVCO C2 and C6, use our functional mailbox:

EuropeAid-C2-MAINSTREAMING@ec.europa.eu

Upcoming trainings:

Brussels, 4-5 July 2016,DEVCO - Towards Sustainable Development: Greening EU Development Cooperation (Syslog 511366)

Santo Domingo, 6-9 June 2016, DEVCO - Economía Verde Inclusiva en la Cooperación al Desarrollo de la UE + modules on mainstreaming (Syslog 508401)

Addis Ababa, 20-23/06/2016, DEVCO - Inclusive Green Economy in EU Development Cooperation + modules on mainstreaming (Syslog 508397)