Working primarily in the global South, we have been applying original thinking to sustainable development issues – linking local priorities to global challenges – for more than 50 years.

Our founder, Barbara Ward, was one of the first people to articulate the concept of sustainable development.

Learn how IIED has been finding innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing sustainable development challenges for half a century.

Scroll through some of our key achievements over the years.

In 1978, our 'Banking on the Biosphere' work sparked a revolution in the environmental performance of multilateral and bilateral agencies.

Just over a decade later, in 1989, we helped to pave the way for the concept of a green economy by publishing ‘Blueprint for a Green Economy’.

As a member of the Green Economy Coalition, we’re still working to accelerate the transition to green and fair economies.

At the start of the century IIED encouraged the formation of the Least Developed Countries Group of the UNFCCC.

Since 2001 we have supported the group, which played a key role in the Paris Agreement, to fully and meaningfully engage in the UN negotiating process on behalf of those countries most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

In 2022 we marked our 50^th birthday by looking back at some of our biggest achievements and reflected with our current and former staff and partners.

We also looked forward to how we will continue to make a difference on the global stage.

Ahead of the Stockholm+50 conference we published research exploring the evolution of sustainable development since the early 1970s, highlighting our role in 10 key movements for change, including the drives for global climate justice and an inclusive green economy.