Conference Climate Change

Conference

"Climate Change, a new Challenge for Development Cooperation?"

Brussels, 7 March 2008

Climate change requires urgent action. We must prevent further aggravation of climate change by the control of the quantity of greenhouse gases that we expulse in the atmosphere (mitigation) and in the same time, to adapt ourselves to the negative consequences of the current and future climate change (adaptation). Although the poor countries, which are the most vulnerable to the climate change, are the less responsible for greenhouse gases emissions, they are the first and the most affected victims of the direct effects of climate change (increasing of the average temperature and water level, natural disasters) and its consequences on biodiversity, land erosion, food security, public health and poverty.

Climate also has a direct impact on the sustainability of the development projects. According to a study of the World Bank, 55% of its projects are affected by climate change and roughly 25% are at significant risk.

Development Cooperation must thereby face important challenges. Developing countries must be helped in their efforts concerning the mitigation and the adaptation. A climate sensitive development policy should preserve the future investments to be affected by the current and future climate change.

This conference was intended to encourage a large exchange of views on these issues, with a view to come out of with a concrete policy proposal for the Minister of Development Cooperation. Professor J-P van Ypersele, member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), chaired the conference and incorporated the inputs from this conference to a future policy proposal to the attention of the Minister for Development Cooperation.

Information about the conference:

Date: 7 March 2008
Place: Egmont Palace
Petit Sablon 8
1000 Brussels
Belgium

For more information about the conference: www.dgdc.be/en/conference_climate_change/index.html

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