IDDRI at Sciences Po : one year and a new logo!

To celebrate a year of integration with Sciences Po, IDDRI is pleased to introduce its new logo! The logo symbolises the merger of the two institutions, which during the course of this year have allowed to identify avenues of collaboration, and that have enabled IDDRI to fully participate in Sciences Po life.

Teaching has provided an essential entry point. For several years Sciences Po has been actively pursuing an international policy that aimed to position the institution on the same level as the world’s best universities. As a result of this policy, students from all over the world were received by Sciences Po, while French students were able to stay for long periods in foreign universities or international institutions.

Through its close collaboration with the Chaire of Sustainable Development and its participation in the Master of Science Sustainable Development degree, which received 30% foreign students, IDDRI contributes to the implementation of the international policy by playing an active role in education; student support (through one-to-one and group meetings); and by providing training to second year students when opportunities occur. In 2008, IDDRI employed two students that had just finished their Masters degrees. IDDRI also strives to help French students benefit from its numerous contacts, with Columbia University and the LSE among others, ensuring their good integration into these universities.

Another entry point of equal importance is offered by research. Within the framework of its work on the issue of climate change, the administration of sustainable development or the management of sustainable resources, IDDRI maintains academic relations with important centres of research throughout the world, for example: with Nicholas Stern’s team at the Grantham Institute of the LSE; Jeff Sachs’ group at the Earth Institute in Columbia; the Academy of Science in China; several institutions in India including Teri (whose president, Rajendra K. Pachauri, has this year co-directed Regards sur la Terre, the annual publication of IDDRI and AFD for the Sciences Po Press); and the CSE directed by Sunita Narain. Regular meetings with these partners represent a renewed opportunity for IDDRI to promote the international policy of Sciences Po and also to declare its membership to this institution, whose research policy “Earth Pole” is fully aligned with the vision of IDDRI.

PUBLICATIONS

* La vulnérabilité des territoires littoraux au changement climatique : Mise au point conceptuelle et facteurs d’influence, by Alexandre Magnan
The aim of this analysis is to discuss the different elements that explain the vulnerability of a territorial system. The goal here is to propose a new approach to the concept of vulnerability by placing it in the context of the “slow threats” implied by climate change. Indeed, the many uncertainties surrounding the climate change expected at the local levels raise questions as to the tools needed in order to prepare, and, consequently, the relevant adaptation strategies.
After taking an epistemological look at the concept of vulnerability and the scientific debates surrounding it, this study proposes an analysis for vulnerability based on six broad factors of influence.
Download: Analyse 01/2009

* The debate on an Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, by Lucien Chabason et Sybille van den Hove
This discussion paper aims at contributing to the current debate on how to strengthen the international science-policy interface for biodiversity and ecosystem services and the potential relevance of an IPBES.
This paper provides an analysis of gaps in science-policy interfaces for international biodiversity
and ecosystem services governance. It explores how the attributes of the biodiversity issue and their
consequences in terms of governance create specific requirements for science-policy interfaces. It
discusses why the existing system is not sufficient to fill the identified gaps, and assesses the
potential contribution and added value of an intergovernmental platform.
Download: Idées pour le débat 01/2009

A Planet for Life 2009
The 2009 edition of A Planet for Life, which includes a main section on the governance of sustainable development, thus informing the current debate on the existing governance system and anticipated changes, is now available in bookshops and on the Presses de Sciences Po website.
Price: 26€
Find out more: the book website

OBSERVATORY For SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

A selection of sustainable development highlights by IDDRI and the Courrier de la Planète, with the support of AFD as part of their partnership for the yearly edition of Regards sur la terre.

* 5 February / Climate: global problem, collective expertise
IUCN and WWF launched an international network of specialists in natural resources management, the Ecosystems and Livelihoods Adaptation Network (ELAN). The aim of this network is to provide high-level expertise on the protection of ecosystems that are threatened by climate change to countries that lack such knowledge. The initiative has received the financial support of the MacArthur Foundation, which awarded a 2 million dollar grant.

* 13 February / France: biodiversity still under threat
The IUCN French Committee and the French Museum of Natural History published a new version of the Red List of Threatened Species for France, reiterating that one in ten mammal species are threatened with extinction in France. Of these species, two (the brown bear and the bat) are “critically endangered”, three (the European hamster, the European mink and the Eurasian lynx) remain “endangered” and six are “vulnerable” (the grey wolf, the mouflon, the sperm whale and three species of bats). The report nevertheless highlights the results obtained by the conservation efforts made for the European mink, the Alsace hamster, the European otter and the Alpine ibex.

* 24 February / Adaptation for the poorest
The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) launched an initiative to help the poorest and most vulnerable communities adapt to climate change. It will bring together backers, research institutes and NGOs from over 50 countries and will provide an online platform for sharing information, the Community Based Adaptation Exchange. Priority will be given to simple measures and to the least costly technologies, such as seed selection by farmers, building floating gardens in flooded areas and building cyclone shelters. The aim is also to accompany these communities in their medium-term choices, in order to avoid them opting for adaptation by default, which would only meet their needs temporarily.