Open letter to the President of the French Republic Preserving the French National Research Institut

Petição dirigida a: Président de la République Française

Petition launched by Denise Pires de Carvalho, Brasília
Translation of the original petition launched in French

Preserving the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD), a pillar of France’s international scientific cooperation

Mr. the President of the Republic,
We, the scientific, academic, and institutional partners of the French National Research Institute for
Sustainable Development (IRD) in Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia, the Pacific, the French
Overseas Territories and Europe, would like to express our deep concern following the
announcements regarding a possible integration of IRD into the National Center for Scientific
Research (CNRS).
For more than 80 years, IRD has deployed a unique and ambitious vision of scientific cooperation
promoted by France. Far beyond being a mere research organization, it is one of the main
instruments of French science diplomacy and a major player in the dialogue between nations on the
major challenges of the twenty-first century.
Through its joint research units, international joint units, international joint laboratories and all its
cooperation mechanisms, the IRD has developed a unique model based on partnership, trust, the co-
construction of knowledge, and sustainable international scientific capacity building.
This model has enabled France to establish enduring partnerships with hundreds of institutions and
thousands of researchers, built over generations, to jointly address the challenges of climate change,
biodiversity conservation, global health, food security, and sustainable development.
This trust is closely followed by all of France’s international partners, including at the highest levels
of their States. For many of them, the IRD has come to symbolise open science, based on dialogue,
reciprocity and mutual respect. Against a backdrop of growing competition amongst the major
powers to strengthen their scientific, technological and diplomatic influence, this image represents a
strategic asset of exceptional value for France.
Today, the IRD relies on a network of thirty-for representations all across Africa, Latin America, the
Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific and the French overseas territories. This network forms the backbone
of the scientific presence of the IRD and sometimes for the French ESR in the global South. Its action
goes beyond research: it supports universities, trains thousands of students and young researchers,
strengthens partner scientific institutions, and contributes to spreading the universal values upheld
by France: academic freedom, scientific excellence, solidarity and cooperation in the service of the
common good.We, Ministers and former Ministers, heads of research organizations, members of national
academies, leaders of scientific institutions, current and former university presidents, directors
of research funding agencies, presidents of international research organizations, governors,
members of parliament, professors, researchers, and leading figures from the worlds of business
and culture who are partners of the IRD and committed to international scientific cooperation,
are convinced that the challenges facing humanity can only be met through science built
collectively, in an ongoing dialogue between the Global North and the Global South, and among
countries of the Global South. Today, the IRD stands as one of the institutions that best
embodies this ambition.