The UK should double the proportion of its international aid
budget spent on research and development in order to solve the
most pressing global challenges and support the Government’s
Industrial Strategy, says Policy Exchange in Global Britain, Global
Solutions, a new report with a foreword by MP. In 2015, British aid for
R&D amounted to £419 million; over the medium term we should
increase this both to help the poorest people in the world and to
support the UK’s world leading scientists.
Growing drug resistance, increasing demand for clean energy and
rising global food demand are among the challenges British
science can help tackle. Yet R&D is relatively neglected by
the rest of the international development community, presents
high returns compared to other forms of intervention and is a
British strength.
Policy Exchange worked with the Copenhagen Consensus Center to
analyse the benefits of nearly 40 potential R&D projects
which will help meet the UN’s Sustainable Development
Goals. Among the most effective areas where British science
could save and improve lives, and where we should invest our
R&D money, are:
- o Developing affordable treatment for
asthma.
- o Cheaper home monitoring and drug delivery
for HIV/AIDs.
- o Developing a long acting reversible
contraceptive.
- o Expanding the potential for irrigation in
Sub-Saharan Africa.
- o Developing and promoting cleaner
cookstoves
Announcing the report, Policy Exchange’s Director of
Research said:
“We made the case for overseas
aid and now Policy Exchange is making the case for
spending that will help both the poorest people in the world and
the British science base. Without further research, many of
today’s technologies won’t be enough to meet future global
challenges.
“Development R&D should be a central part both of our aid
strategy and a broader innovation-led Industrial Strategy.
Working with the Copenhagen Consensus Center, Policy Exchange has
identified 40 interventions where British scientists could make a
difference to millions of people, for example by developing more
affordable treatments for asthma, supporting farmers with
innovative irrigation techniques or launching cleaner ways of
cooking.
“A post Brexit Britain has the potential to become a world leader
in emerging technologies in agriculture, medicine, transport and
GovTech – both helping our economy and tackling some of the
world’s most important challenges. Brexit may also give us
an opportunity to be more innovative as the European Union’s
over-reliance on the ‘precautionary principle’ has slowed
progress in sectors like pharmaceuticals and GM crops, with
significant spillover effects in the developing world.”
Bjorn Lomborg, President of the Copenhagen Consensus
Center, said:
"Copenhagen Consensus research at a global and national level has
repeatedly shown that R&D delivers some of the most benefit
for each pound spent. In global health, agriculture, gender-based
violence, air pollution, and other areas, there are large
opportunities for development innovation, where British R&D
spending could help immensely. We are delighted to have worked
with Policy Exchange to show how effectively R&D spending
could help change millions of lives for the better."
MP, Chair of the
Conservative Policy Forum, has written a Foreword for the report
in which he says:
“At this historic moment while we prepare to leave the European
Union, it is more important than ever that Britain sets out a
bold, optimistic path for the future. Rather than turn in on
ourselves, we should turn outwards, creating a more Global
Britain.
“Public investment in development R&D can be a win/win -
boosting global security and prosperity, while providing the seed
capital to support a wider ecosystem of innovation at home. Many
of these new technologies will not just help tackle the problems
of the world’s poorest people, but solve our own challenges.”
As the Government’s Independent Commission for Aid Impact has
argued, the current Global Challenges Research Fund provides
insufficient strategic direction. In order to maximise returns
from development R&D, we propose that UKRI should create a
new institution - the UK Innovation Challenge Agency - to jointly
manage the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund and the Global
Challenges Research Fund. The new
Innovation Challenge Agency would build the evidence base behind
challenges, identify research gaps, sponsor replication, identify
regulatory barriers to innovation and commission a new series of
Advanced Market Commitments for finding solutions to global
challenges.
