The Millenium Development Goals (MDGS) which sought to put people at the centre of all agendas, to promote well-being and dignity, were not achieved in many countries in 2015. However the mobilisation of the international community did allow for some progress, especially as far as implementing the essential building blocks of sustainable development: reducing poverty, improving the living conditions of the poorest, facilitating school access, reducing gender inequality in primary education, and improving global health. Since the Rio conference in 2012, the international community has been actively seeking to establish a post-2015 agenda : the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These deliberations take into account the evolution of the international climate. Today, economic growth is driven by emerging market countries, and demographic growth has increased global population to reach almost 7 billion – 9 billion in 2050. This means the SDGs will be implemented in a context of unprecedented human pressure on ecosystems. It is becoming increasingly clear that currently observable and planned progress may have to be reconsidered because of poorly managed economic growth relying on the exploitation of depletable natural resources (water and fossil fuels). The exploitation of these resources generates local and global pollution, and disrupts natural cycles, while the conversion of natural areas is accelerating the erosion of biodiversity.

Backed with a new development programme, the SDGs must not only take up elements of the MDGs, but also ensure that these are compatible with local and global environmental constraints. Research conducted by CERDI on sustainable development paths are methodological, while also developing a sectoral approach. In the health sector, research assesses the efficiency of hospitals in various contexts of reforms, be they geographical or institutional. In the environmental sector, research examines the compatibility of development and environmental goals, by studying the effects of environmental policies on trade, or the consequences of renewable energy development policies in developing countries. The efficiency of public policies also depends on governance. As well as providing essential services (health, education, energy and sanitation), government policies should aim to eliminate poverty and poverty traps. In order to quantify their effectiveness, reliable poverty indicators are necessary. Efforts are also focused on developing indicators to assess the pro-poor nature of growth and to evaluate the variations of poverty. In the agricultural sector, research concentrates on food insecurity and its relation to price movements.
Research projects