Sustainable Development

Researchers in this group focus on the practical challenges of implementing and delivering on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly around the synergies and trade-offs between them.

Following broad international agreement on the SDGs and the Paris Agreement on climate change, consensus has formed around a new development agenda that recognises the interdependent nature of development: simply that economic growth, development and poverty reduction is are all linked and necessary for addressing global and local environmental challenges.

Members of this research group explore some of the most crucial aspects of delivery on this agenda, including climate-resilient development, the management of ecosystems, water and other natural resources, decision-making in uncertain circumstances, and the political economy of climate policy.

Research projects

Research

Crop diversification and child health: empirical evidence from Tanzania

Malnutrition is recognized as a major issue among low-income households in developing countries with long-term implications for economic development. Recently, crop diversification has been considered as a strategy to … read more »

Sustainability and internationalism: driving development in the 21st century

Nicholas Stern contends that embarking on a path of strong, sustainable and inclusive growth can deliver the zero-carbon economy and the Sustainable Development Goals, and that such a strategy both requires, and can help create, a new internationalism. This is an extended version of a lecture by Professor Stern delivered in February 2019 at the University of Cambridge. read more »

Collaboration as the key learning: how we did it in UMFULA

UMFULA involves over 50 people spread across 13 organisations based in five countries and two continents. In the history of collaborative research, there have been many research consortia of this size and geographical spread - but what makes UMFULA special is its interdisciplinary nature says Estelle Rouhaud. read more »