In 2018, relationships with the World Bank were strengthened. IRD supported the applications of several African partners as part of the 3rd call for African centres of excellence (ACE IMPACT) funded by the World Bank and AFD. In partnership with CIRAD and CNRS, IRD is a partner to 16 of the 44 African centres of excellence in West Africa.
Via its “Vulnerability of coastal zones in a context of global change” PSIP (interdisciplinary partnership scientific programme), IRD participated in the launch workshop for the WACA (West African Coastal Areas) management programme from the World Bank (Dakar, Senegal). IRD and its partners also took part in the “Blue economy” conference in Nairobi (Kenya), during which their works on marine planning, the environmental impacts of illegal fishing and the climate/ocean relationship were presented.
IRD tightens connections with partner United Nations agencies. L’The Institute actively collaborated with the United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment) for the creation of an interface between scientists, decision-makers and economic players, devoted to the protection of the environment (Science Business Policy Forum). In close collaboration with CIRAD and Agreenium, IRD participated in the renewal of the framework agreement between France and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). An institutional meeting was held in Geneva with the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), concerning climate and hydrological services (CREWS and Hydromet projects). A meeting was also organised with the WMO/WHO (World Health Organisation) Joint Office in Geneva, to explore the collaborations between IRD and these organisations, focusing on the climate-health connection.
IRD mobilisation in favour of the international debate on sustainable development. At Cop 24 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), held in Katowice in Poland, the Institute and its partners highlighted the role of science in understanding and monitoring the impacts of climate change on health, but also the importance of the agro-forestry sector in reducing CO2 emissions, via initiatives such as 4 per mil. The Cop 14 biodiversity conference, held in Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt, was also an important moment of discussion between our researchers, our partners and decision-makers, concerning the issue of African Protected Areas in the post-2020 agenda and invasive species in Africa.
Through a strong mobilisation of its partners in Francophone Africa and the Future Earth network, IRD organised a multi-party consultation workshop in South Africa, on the SDGs in Africa, to coincide with the conference on “implementing transformations: the role of science and society in achieving the 2030 Agenda”. The results of this consultation were presented in New York at the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF). The 2018 HLPF was also a moment of discussion concerning innovative and inclusive approaches in the multi-dimensional definition of poverty and the need to understand interactions between the SDGs.
1 Prof. Jean-Paul Moatti, IRD Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, is a member of the UN’s group of international experts in charge of writing the UN’s 2019 report on sustainable development (GSDR).