If we consider the current global context, what role do you think development cooperation plays as a driving force for implementing the ecological transition in developing countries? What is the role of cooperation in affirming environmental and sustainability principles within a framework of economic powers that seem unwilling to commit in this regard?
In a context of polycrisis and geopolitical fragmentation, I am strongly convinced that development cooperation is the driving force for implementing just ecological transitions in developing countries. At AFD, we believe that ecological, social and economic sustainabilities are interconnected, as highlighted by the Sustainable Development Goals, and hence that protecting the environment also contributes to ensuring at least essential social benefits and protection and economic development. This is why AFD has a 100% Paris Agreement objective for example, alongside a 100% SDG alignment approach.
As a researcher, I believe that the role of research is to highlight how these different forms of sustainability are interconnected by identifying tensions and synergies between these objectives. This is a key aspect of strong sustainability, which emphasizes that economic investment cannot offset environmental degradation and that natural capital cannot be indefinitely substituted by other forms of capital such as human capital or economic capital. In light of this, it is important to recognize that just ecological transitions far from being theoretical concepts are transformative processes with significant economic implications. From an economic perspective, these transitions will lead to the growth of pro-nature industries while industries with a large ecological footprint will decline. This is why my team collaborates with ministries and researchers in developing and emerging economies, using empirical modelling to highlight the economic and financial vulnerabilities and opportunities related to ecological transitions.
The role of cooperation in the global context is twofold. First, it is about understanding the reality and needs of developing and emerging economies, what AFD calls to be “du côté des autres” which could be loosely translated as “standing alongside others”. It is fundamental to avoid disconnected perspectives and discourses like greenwashing or over-optimistic outcomes of ecological transitions. This search for reality then allows public policymakers to make trade-offs, and recognize the limits of what can be achieved, fostering collective decision-making processes to define what we mean by the “good state” and how to achieve it. The second role of cooperation, in my perspective, is thus: facilitating the emergence of new governance structures (international, national and sub-national) for all countries that would allow tackling the challenges of just ecological transitions. In this context, the commons-based approach offers a promising avenue, which could combine the search for strong sustainability and the governance structure most adapted to reach it.
