Clermont-Ferrand is a hub of expertise in development economics recognized at the French and international level, thanks to the research activities of the Foundation for Studies and Research on International Development (FERDI). Training courses aimed at executives and future decision-makers in the countries in the Global South, provided in particular by the Centre for International Development Studies and Research (CERDI) since 1976, also contribute to this recognition.

The presence of a branch of the Global Development Network (GDN) will now strengthen this hub. This international organization's mission is to strengthen research capacities in Global South countries wishing to benefit from the city's dynamic context. 

Through AFD, the French State supports the research and training activities of the Clermont International Development Hub and the establishment of the Clermont-Ferrand branch of GDN within the framework of a single project. This project aims to strengthen the ecosystem of local expertise and to develop synergies between the actors concerned for the benefit of their partners in the Global South.

This project has three complementary objectives:

• Support for the creation in Clermont-Ferrand of a branch office of the GDN, to enable the network to continue from France its flagship activities (such as its annual conference and the Global Dev blog), as well as to launch an ambitious programme to simultaneously fund research production and capacity building of African research institutions;
• Support for FERDI’s research activities, to enable the foundation to gain visibility and influence on sustainable development issues;
• Strengthening of FERDI’s training activities in partnership with the University of Clermont-Auvergne, including the Master’s degree in “Project Management for Development” (MODEV), which specifically targets executives in countries in the Global South, and setting up additional training activities (development of short and/or distance courses, support for doctoral courses in the South).

The expected impacts of the project are:

• For the actors of the Clermont Hub: strengthening the influence and outreach of the Clermont pole and its actors, allowing them to become a reference on development issues in national and international debates.
• For the partners of the Clermont hub in the Global South, and in particular in French-speaking Africa:

• Improving the skills of managers who receive training (women and men) in the management of development policies and projects;

• Strengthening the research capacities of researchers and partner institutions in the Global South on sustainable development issues, as well as their capacity to participate in public debate;

• Development and/or consolidation of networks of researchers and learners in beneficiary countries;

• Improved public policy dialogue, so that development policy-making in AFD’s partner countries can benefit from the insights of locally based research.

Contact: 

Linda Zanfini, research officer at AFD

New Caledonia is a land of contradicting forces. It is a lush biodiversity hotspot, containing a high level of endemic wildlife. The local economy on the other hand, particularly the mining and metallurgy industries, has an impact on the environment. The stakeholders responsible for public development and environmental protection policies need to monitor the shifting state of the environment using the most effective tools available. 

The Environmental Sustainability Gap methodology, or ESGAP uses a scoreboard and a number of detailed criteria to monitor environmental conditions. It provides information on changes in the state of different components of the environment, emphasizing the gaps that exist between these changes and the objectives of maintaining or achieving "good environmental status" for each component, or between how things are and how they should be. ESGAP in its current form was conceptually developed taking the European Union as a case study. This assessment was carried out by the Ecological Accounting Chair, in partnership with WWF France's “Conserving Natural Capital” program.

This pilot project implementing the ESGAP scoreboard in New Caledonia aims to assess the operationality of this tool, in territories where environmental data are lacking and fragmented. If effective, the project can be enriched and implemented in New Caledonia, in order to inform public decision-making.

The project is based on an initial study carried out Europe-wide, which resulted in the creation of a methodology and scoreboard with the SES (Strong Environmental Sustainability) and SESP (Strong Environmental Sustainability Progress) indicators. 

 

The methodology used in this project was based on the work of Paul Ekins’ team at the Institute for Sustainable Resources, University College London. The ESGAP method assesses the sustainable use of natural resources, critical pollution loads for ecosystems, biodiversity, and human health and well-being, and identifies the territory's overall level of sustainability with regard to these four components. It was adapted for New Caledonia, its institutional constraints and regional ecological specificities.

As part of a field study, some 30 stakeholders responsible for environmental management (including decision-makers, managers, research centers, NGOs and the private sector) were consulted in order to:

• Provide information on the four environmental components and adjust them to the local context
• Define the environmental objectives to be achieved or maintained, as well as the associated indicators in the New Caledonian context
• Collect the data required to build the indicators

Statistical analysis was then performed to develop the ESGAP composite indicators from the databases provided.

The project made it possible to calculate New Caledonia's environmental sustainability score: the aggregate sustainability score was 43%, which represents a gap of 57% compared to an ideal of 100% sustainability.  

Despite the scattered, fragmented data, the analysis reveals the critical load of pollution on ecosystems function in New Caledonia. Greenhouse gas emissions, burnt areas and bathing water quality have an increasingly heavy toll.

On the other hand, biodiversity and human health measures are in a relatively sustainable state. The ESGAP analysis shows, for example, that fish resources and outdoor air quality have reached their sustainability objectives and can now be maintained. 

Implementing ESGAP also reveals the lack of data on the state of the environment in developing countries and territories. Coordinated efforts on international frameworks could improve the quality and availability of environmental data. Consultation around ESGAP has also revealed a lack of regulatory frameworks, as well as of quantifiable environmental and scientific objectives. 

Nevertheless, the ESGAP framework makes it possible to summarize the state of natural capital, and can be used for environmental management, even when only certain indicators are used.

Finally, the project has provided insights into how ESGAP could be implemented in other countries, and has established connections with other international sustainability monitoring frameworks.

The final report is available on the Chair and WWF France websites.

Contact :

Oskar Lecuyer