Addressing climate change through development cooperation

This report provides an input for defining the role of the Swiss Agency for Cooperation and Development (SDC) in addressing climate change, with particular reference to natural resources management and food security.The report is structured in four chapters and one annex:Chapter 1 explains the importance of climate change for the development cooperationChapter 2 details some key elements to guide future action addressing climate change are given. These elements are proposed with emphasis on SDC’s overall mission in poverty alleviation and sustainable development in developing countries and countries in economic transitionChapter 3 presents the implications for SDC thematic teams and geographic sections according to the challenges in the different regions. Based on chapters 1 – 3Chapter 4 presents possible actions at two levels; thematic coordination and action at the fieldThe annex introduces the scientific background on climate change and gives a brief overview on the current state of international negotiations within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).The report presents strategies for action at both the coordination level and the operational level:re-examine current policies and geographic priorities in the light of potential impacts of climate change and international mitigation and adaptation initiativespromote information exchange and regularly inform SDC through structured contributionssupport assessment of SDC financed actions, projects and programmes from the climate change anglebased on previous analysis, promote pilot experiences in mitigation or adaptationpromote capacity building on adaptation and mitigation for target groupsincorporate climate change related issues in future programmes and projectsbased on criteria for sustainable development establish priority regions both in mitigation and in adaptation for SDC.