Annual Report 2023-24

Letter from the Executive Director

Achieving sustainable growth in developing countries is a global imperative. These nations have a pressing need for economic growth to raise living standards and reduce poverty. At the same time, they bear the greatest burden from climate change and are where future emissions are forecast to grow most rapidly. 

However, developing countries simply cannot grow in the same way as before. Identifying priority areas for research to inform policy choices in developing countries to promote inclusive economic growth, without endangering the environment, has, therefore, never been more important.

In response to these challenges, the IGC embarked on the broadest strategic exercise we have ever undertaken to mainstream sustainable growth across all our work. In September 2023, we reached a milestone in this journey with the publication of the IGC white paper Innovation, growth, and the environment. This was the culmination of a two-year strategic review involving our research and country leadership in consultation with international collaborators in academia and policymaking. The white paper, cited in the UK Government’s International Development White Paper, highlights the importance of innovation - not just technological, but social, organisational, regulatory, and political – across six policy areas (clean energy, conservation, firm innovation, labour markets, cities and migration, and social protection), to drive the changes that are needed. 

Read the IGC's white paper: Innovation, growth, and the environment

Read an interview with the authors: Eight questions for sustainable growth

We are already putting the paper’s vision into practice. We invested £5.3 million in research through our commissioning board this year, with over half of the 110 new research projects focusing on climate change and sustainable growth. Our second, co-hosted LSE Environment Week attracted high-level policymakers from across the world and our in-person retreat, the first since the pandemic, was a valuable opportunity to discuss and internalise our vision for sustainable growth among staff.

Climate-focused initiatives are gaining momentum in our country engagements, with IGC Rwanda, for example, integrating climate risks into trade dialogues, IGC Ethiopia investigating the impact of access to weather and climate services on agricultural productivity, IGC Ghana assessing public perceptions of a carbon tax on motor vehicles, and IGC Mozambique evaluating the effects of a carbon border adjustment mechanism on its exports. Economic Growth Forums in Uganda and Zambia, co-hosted with Finance Ministries, provided platforms to promote strategies for economic resilience and sustainable growth.

On the global stage, we have expanded our footprint, launching a new resident country programme in Jordan and advancing knowledge at the intersection of sustainable growth and policymaking through our global initiatives. This includes the development of a spatial economic model by our Cities that Work initiative with the City of Cape Town and World Bank that enables policymakers to make data-informed decisions including on urban restoration projects. 

Download the Cities Spatial Model

Our work in fragile states continues to focus on pivotal moments for change. Our State Fragility initiative produced an analysis of how to enhance electricity access for the Executive Bureau in Yemen, and hosted the annual Development Finance Institutions (DFI) Fragility Forum at the University of Oxford in collaboration with British International Investments (BII), the African Development Bank, and International Finance Corporation, with a focus on local currency financing in fragile states.

Read more about the DFI Fragility Forum

Increasing the representation of researchers from developing countries continued to be a top priority in our commissioning process over the past year. Overall, 68% of the proposals we received in this year’s Commissioning Board, and 43% of the approved proposals, included at least one local researcher. Our efforts to build broad engagement in the sustainability agenda were also reflected in our continuing collaboration with the Bureau for Research and Economic Analysis of Development (BREAD). This year saw the launch of a virtual PhD non-credit course on environmental economics, which attracted 1,186 participants, with 77% of those registered coming from low- and middle-income countries (principally sub-Saharan Africa followed by South Asia).

Watch all the IGC-BREAD lectures

Our research has informed policy decisions and sparked influential dialogues with key policymakers across more than 20 countries this year. From revolutionising property tax systems in Sierra Leone to influencing Mozambique’s National Development Strategy and shaping disaster preparedness in Pakistan, our work has contributed to tangible change, and I am proud of our contributions to promoting inclusive and sustainable economic growth, working with our policymaker partners.

Looking forward, we are committed to continuing to deliver a step change in our sustainable growth agenda. We will use our commissioning mechanisms, informed by our new research strategy, to provide robust evidence and innovative ideas to inform the policy decisions needed to propel countries onto a sustainable growth trajectory.