World Summit of Regions

Brittany is both proud and pleased to be hosting the first climate change summit of the world's regional governments. Brittany's involvement stems not only from necessity but also from a long-standing tradition of looking well beyond its own borders.
Over the last few years, our region has experienced a number of extreme climatic events, including drought, flooding and violent storms. The latest in the series was in March 2008, when an unprecedented rise in the sea level caused millions of euros of damage and harmed all of our coasts. Brittany represents 25% of France's coastline and over 25% of the region’s population is employed in exploiting and highlighting its natural assets (agriculture, fishing and tourism), so it cannot but be affected by the emerging climate crisis. We must tackle this issue now. The Regional Council of Brittany has already converted its ambitions in this area into such concrete measures as an energy plan, a charter for coastal areas, Agenda 21, and work on a climate plan, etc. These are initiatives that will be pursued and expanded.
The decision to organise the regional governments' World Summit in Brittany also stems from a long-standing tradition of regional action. Back in the 1950s, Brittany realised that, alone, it was incapable of shaping its future, and accordingly staked its hopes in the development of Europe. One of the most notable outcomes was the creation of the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR) in Saint Malo in 1973. In 2008, the same realisation is behind our involvement in the Network of Regional Governments for Sustainable Development (nrg4sd). Regional government is an appropriate level for addressing the climate change issue and any action in this area needs to be on the right scale: that of the planet. Our partners are not only the other world regions but also international stakeholders, be they European or members of the United Nations.
Ancient civilisations sometimes show great wisdom. As the Breton proverb says, "Re gozh eo an douar evit ober goap anezhañ" (The earth is too old for us to treat it with disrespect). I hope we will bear this in mind before it is too late.

Jean Yves Le Drian, President of Brittany Regional Council

• Brittany Regional Council
• Editorial in Breton language