A new project started in January 2012, funded by the European Commission (DG CLIMA), to explore ways to optimally design climate change policies via the EU’s rural development programme.

The project will involve evaluating rural development measures and operations using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) coupled with an Adaptive Capacity Impact Assessment (ACIA) on ecosystem services. This will provide an assessment of their potential benefits for climate change mitigation and adaptation, impacts on productivity and identify any practicality issues associated with their implementation.

This information will be used to develop an RDP manual and checklist to facilitate the optimisation of national rural development programmes to support the delivery of climate policy objectives. The project will involve stakeholder engagement and consultation (e.g. to define end user requirements for the manual and checklist) at national and regional levels across Europe.

The project will conclude with a workshop in Brussels at the end of 2012.