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Tiphaine Leménager, Convener of Biodiversity Research Department of the AFD, talks about the issues underlying the problem "reconciling development and environmental protection. Can there be an efficient development that preserves the environment ? What is the position of the AFD in this area?

Tiphaine Leménager also discusses how the AFD helps to protect the environment : financing sustainable management projects, establishing procedures for the control of environmental hazards and activities of research and evaluation.

Finally, T. Leménager gives an overview of the main trends of thoughts debating on the theme: development versus environment : what are our priorities?

►Download the Annual Report 2010 in French (PDF)

2010: a new year of growth to support development

With €832 million of budget resources allocated by the State, AFD provided €6.8 billion of project financing in 2010, i.e. an 11% rise on 2009. Its activity accounted for 28% of France’s official development assistance. AFD also paid back €104 million of dividends to the State.

Africa remains the priority with €2.1 billion of financing in 2010.

Two-thirds of the financing break down between infrastructure, urban development, productive sectors and agriculture.

In 2010, AFD’s financing will contribute to:

• Improving drinking water supply systems for 33 million people
• Getting 13.4 million children into primary school
• Upgrading or building transport hubs that will be used by 85.8 million passengers a year
• Supporting energy efficiency by saving 5 million tons of CO2 a year
• Providing access to electrification for 3 million people
• Allocating microfinance loans that will benefit just over 700 000 people
• Supporting agricultural or irrigation projects that will benefit 1.4 million people

2011: consolidation of economic model

Dov ZERAH, Chief Executive Officer of AFD: “AFD has experienced a veritable revolution over the past few years. It has become a key player in development with an activity that has tripled in five years. Today, a new phase is beginning with the consolidation of our model.”

In the coming years, AFD will be focusing its activity on three priority areas:

• Sub-Saharan Africa:  60% of resources allocated to AFD by the State will be earmarked for this region, particularly for the sectors of agriculture and agro-industries, infrastructure, education and health.
• The Mediterranean: AFD will be supporting the recent developments in the region by scaling up its operations in Mediterranean Basin countries, particularly in the productive and vocational training sectors.
• Emerging countries: AFD will be supporting these countries via loans with a low level of concessionality in order to encourage them to set out on a growth path that respects the environment more and is more inclusive.

Consolidating the model requires stabilizing AFD’s level of activity, which is expected to reach €8 billion by 2013. AFD set up a Risk Department in 2011 in order to improve risk management. It has also reinforced its human capital with 125 recruitments in 2010.

Dov ZERAH: “Beyond financing, it is our expertise that our partners are seeking. AFD will also be continuing to actively provide input to international debates through its knowledge production. We will, at the same time, be forging an increasing number of partnerships with other development players such as NGOs, local authorities, private foundations, or again multilateral banks. They help increase the outreach and effectiveness of our actions. In a globalized world, the only winning strategies are cooperation strategies.”

In 2011, AFD will be celebrating the 70th anniversary of its creation in 1941 by General de Gaulle. AFD will be marking the occasion by organizing events to meet the French public in order to raise their awareness of North-South issues and allow them to learn more about development results. A travelling open-air exhibition called “Objectif Développement”, designed in partnership with Magnum Photos, will be launched in Bordeaux on 21 May 2011. It will be travelling to all the major cities in France throughout the year.

 
Agence Française de Développement (AFD) is a public development finance institution that has been working to fight poverty and support economic growth in developing countries and the French Overseas Communities for 70 years. It implements the development policy defined by the French Government.
With agencies in over 50 countries, AFD finances and supports projects that improve people’s living conditions, promote economic growth and protect the planet: getting children into school, support for farmers and small businesses, water supply, tropical forest preservation, fight against climate change…

The partnership between AFD and Plan Bleu dates back to November 2007.  It comes under the Mediterranean Strategy for Sustainable Development defined by 21 Mediterranean countries and the European Community during the Barcelona Convention in November 2001. This partnership focuses on core issues for the Mediterranean, such as climate change, water, energy, transport, tourism, as well as urban, rural and coastal areas.

With the launch of the Union for the Mediterranean, it has been possible to pool efforts and cooperation for sustainable development in the Mediterranean in order to support the priorities defined during the Summit of Heads of State and Government in Paris in July 2008: water, urban development, energy and transport.

The Marseille Center for Mediterranean Integration (CMI), to which both AFD and Plan Bleu contribute, will also make it possible to build synergies with the Center for Financial, Economic and Banking Studies (CEFEB), AFD’s corporate university which is also located in Marseille.

In order to guarantee sustainable livelihoods for local populations that earn their living from the natural resources of the Quirimbas National Park, from fishing in particular, the French GEF has joined hands with the Government of Mozambique, AFD and WWF to finance a project totaling €8.4m.

The Quirimbas National Park, located in Northern Mozambique, is a land and marine park covering 7,506 km² and is home to 100,000 permanent residents. The park protects natural environments and remarkable animal and plant species that are threatened at both the national and international level.

This new project aims to reinforce the resistance and resilience of ecosystems to climate change. It meets four objectives:

1. To base improving local socioeconomic conditions on the conservation of the park’s resources;
2. To set up an efficient management system for the park;
3. To lay the foundations for the financial sustainability of the park;
4. To prepare the ecosystems of the park and its surroundings for the impacts of climate change.

The French GEF’s €1m intervention focuses on four specific actions:

• To study the impact of climate change on critical ecosystems and define an adaptation strategy;
• To reinforce the resilience of marine ecosystems to climate change thanks to improved management. This component will factor in the services rendered to local communities in the context of climate change;
• To reinforce the resilience of land ecosystems to climate change thanks to the connectivity between the three fully protected areas and by creating and delimiting corridors between Quirimbas National Park and Niassa National Reserve;
• To generate revenues through conservation: payments for ecosystem services, particularly with the launch of a REDD+ project and the creation of a partnership with the private sector on carbon revenues.

In Mozambique, this project is unique and innovative because it is the very first to anticipate the impacts of climate change on ecosystems in a determined geographical area and in a protected area of international importance.
It is the only project that aims to define ecosystem management strategies through research activities and to implement a REDD+ approach.
The project will turn Quirimbas National Park into a pilot site for ecosystem management and for the management of a protected area in the face of the challenges posed by climate change. The lessons that will be learned from the implementation of this project may be of use elsewhere. The approach developed by the project in Quirimbas National Park can be fully reproduced on other sites.

Find out more on the French GEF website