CARE International promotes a pro-poor approach to poverty-environment-climate change programming that maximizes social justice and poverty reduction impacts on a sustainable basis, and protects more vulnerable social groups from the negative impacts of environmental change.

In our work, we are specifically addressing experiences by CARE staff who report that changing climatic conditions are affecting all areas of development: food security, the availability of water, health, the productivity and essential viability of natural resource-based livelihoods, the range of poor people's livelihood opportunities and the frequency and intensity of natural resource conflicts.

In response, a CARE International Task Force of members from Country Offices, Regional Management Units, CARE International Members and the CARE International Secretariat recommended four areas of concentration for the organization:

These four themes provide the framework around which we are building and implementing a 2007-2009 strategy that includes major activities and specific tasks. Based on our progress to date, lessons learnt and an analysis of present circumstances, the 2010-2012 CARE International Climate Change Strategy is currently being developed. It will be launched and a summary available in early 2010.