About us
EfD contributes to solving the world’s most urgent environmental and development challenges through policy-relevant research, capacity development, and policy engagement. The network is coordinated from the School of Business, Economics, and Law at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
Environment for Development (EfD) is a special unit at the School of Business, Economics and Law since 2019, after previously having been a part of the Department of Economics with Statistics. The unit coordinates a global network of 13 Environmental Economics centers in the Global South.
Vision
Inclusive sustainable development in the Global South founded on efficient management of the environment, natural resources, and climate change impacts.
Overarching objectives
EfD contributes to evidence-based domestic and international policies for poverty reduction, gender equality and environmental and resource management, including climate change impacts, in the Global South through integrated capacity development, research and policy engagement.
Operations and organisation
The focus for the unit’s work is to implement EfD’s strategy to carry out, develop and follow up EfD’s goals and activities. This is primarily done by:
- support by institutionalization by Environmental Economics centers in the Global South
- financing and implementation of high-quality policy-relevant research
- support to capacity development within Environmental Economics
- promoting an increased use of Environmental Economical tools and research results in poverty reduction and sustainability work.
The Director Gunnar Köhlin is responsible for the unit and leads the operations.
EfD’s Advisory Board leads the work with developing:
- an over-all strategy
- a communication strategy
- a strategy for sustainable financing, and follows up on EfD’s goal fulfillment.
The board consists of Pam Fredman (chairman), Fredrik Carlsson, Chantal Line Carpentier, Tomas Kåberger, Edwin Muchapondwa, Eswaran Somanathan, Kevin Urama,
EfD has also a number of committees with advisory functions:
- The EfD Coordination Committee monitors the development of EfD centers and cooperation with stakeholders and appoints
- The Committee for Academic Capacity Development which coordinates EfD’s work with focus on capacity development.
- A Research Committee that is appointed by the board is responsible for the distribution of research means from EfD’s research fund and appoints the Senior Researchers of the EfD centers.
- EfD Collaborative Committee supports knowledge transfer and the implementation of EfD’s collaborative programs, which carries through thematic research projects with participants from several centers.
EfD’s Global Hub convenes these committees and implements relevant recommendations.
EfD’s operations are financed by external donors.
