EfD aims to support a new generation of engaged researchers based in the Global South. In this magazine you will find stories of the work carried out at our EfD centers across the world.
First: In Ghana, EfD researchers are looking at how performance indicators measuring economic and socioeconomic factors within the fisheries industry can contribute towards solutions to problems such as corruption, lack of law enforcement, and a shortage of scientific and economic data. This is part of a larger collaborative endeavor involving 10 EfD countries.
Then, we describe the Ecosystem Services Accounting for Development (ESAforD) project, EfD’s unprecedented seven-country collaboration on ecosystem services valuation which aims to highlight the value of the environment’s contribution to the economy.
Next is a story on carbon pricing. Carbon taxation is an effective economic tool to lower emissions, but many countries in the Global South lag far behind Europe and the US in terms of testing different approaches to setting a price on carbon emissions. In Colombia, China, Ethiopia and Costa Rica, EfD researchers aim to address this knowledge gap and support policymakers in their countries.
A major story in the media across the world in early 2018 was the news that Cape Town came within months of running out of municipal water, following the worst drought in over a century. Researchers from EfD South Africa worked with the city to track how effective different water-saving measures implemented by the government were, and also rolled out a series of behavioral ‘nudging’ experiments to help drive down water use. Lessons from the Cape Town drought might help developing world cities in the future.
Lastly, EfD is developing a data-sharing policy that aims to make data from across its networks more widely and publicly available, in order to increase transparency and support policymaking in the Global South.
We hope you enjoy learning more about how EfD brings research into action!
Yours proudly,
Gunnar Köhlin
EfD Director.