International Institute for Environment and Development 
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| International Institute for Environment and Development |
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More about IIED
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Thinking for the future: The future is predictable
If we consume finite resources today and don't conserve for tomorrow, if we overlook injustices that don't hurt us personally, if we don't engage in debating the future for our children because we are fine, thank you – then there will be energy, food and water wars, the rich will live in fortresses and there will be precious little for the poor to inherit. The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) was founded in 1971 by Barbara Ward, a visionary environmentalist and political scientist and the author of the aptly titled Only One Earth. She believed in the radical idea of publicly debating the shape of the future, rather than leaving it to chance and the 'experts'. IIED has been a major influence in such participatory planning. It explores and analyses the linkages between environmental, economic and social factors that affect development and aims to design 'policies that work', both for society as a whole, and for the poor and marginalised within societies.
Programmes and projects
Programmes in all of these areas aim to help reduce poverty and manage global resources more equitably and efficiently. The IIED sustainable markets programme, for example, works with the private sector as well as governments and civil society, to ensure that market driven policies can also deliver social and environmental benefits – one major project is focusing on the role and impact of the global mining industry.
Collaboration and networking As an organisation with a global mandate IIED has an international staff and board (some 70 UK-based staff and 18 nationalities) and works with and through a global network of partners and advisors consisting of hundreds of individuals and institutions. IIED's extensive global partnerships enables it to link grassroots agendas and action to national and international policy-making. Climate change negotiations for instance, are as important for coastal fishing communities or Sahelian pastoralists as they are for the new traders in carbon, the pollutors who buy forests to soak up greenhouse gases, or the Northern environment ministers balancing energy reduction targets against winning votes. Only rarely can grassroots organisations make an impact at the international policy level. That's where IIED can help – by providing assistance and research resources to local groups and help to get their concerns heard and understood at the political level.
Copyright © 2005 International Institute for Environment and Development. |
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