Integrating the Environment and Climate Change into EU International Cooperation and Development towards Sustainable Development

These guidelines provide a framework for strengthening the contribution of European Union (EU) international cooperation and development policy to sustainable development by integrating, or mainstreaming, environmental and climate change considerations into the different phases of the EU programme and project cycle. The guidelines are intended for staff in the European Commission (EC), EU Delegations and partner institutions; they update guidelines published in 2009.

The guidelines are presented in three chapters; they are complemented by several additional resources:

• a separately published executive summary;
• nine annexes which provide practical tools and examples, including template terms of reference (ToR);
• sector notes (in development) and a series of climate change sector scripts, which illustrate and provide concrete examples of how the environment and climate change can be mainstreamed in specific sectors.

List of annexes:

• Annex 1: Sustainable Development Goals and targets relevant for mainstreaming
• Annex 2: Terms of reference for a country evironmental profile
• Annex 3: Environment and climate change screening
• Annex 4: Guidance for integrating environmental and climate-related aspects in identification and formulations studies
• Annex 5: Terms of reference for a strategic environmental assessment
• Annex 6: Terms of reference for an environmental impact assessment
• Annex 7: Monitoring and indicators
• Annex 8: Rio and aid to environment markers
• Annex 9: Terms of reference for a climate risk assessment
• Complete set of annexes (from Annex 1 to Annex 9)

The complete guidelines are accessible here: