Blog archives
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Stockholm+50 must build a legacy of support for locally-led action for people, nature and climate
27 May 2022Global leaders will meet in Sweden at Stockholm+50 next week to reflect on five decades of action since the 1972 Stockholm conference that put the environment at the heart of international development. To coincide with the meeting, IIED has launched a report outlining why locally-led action for people, nature and climate is vital to progress
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Seeking cheaper, better quality rice: the cooperative rice distribution project in Jakarta
25 May 2022A network of large informal communities and street vendors cooperatives in Jakarta found a way to get better cheaper rice to communities during the COVID-19 pandemic
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A just recovery from COVID-19: young people from eight African cities speak out
24 May 2022As cities across Africa start to lift pandemic restrictions, young people are hoping for a more equitable future. We report on a project that captured the perspectives of young people living in informal settlements in eight African cities
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Investment governance in Cambodia: a window of opportunity
20 May 2022Cambodia’s new investment law could open the way for more inclusive, sustainable investment. In a series of virtual meetings, stakeholders from across Cambodia came together to assess the challenges and opportunities arising from that law and investment governance generally
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Promoting anti-racist narratives in development sector research
19 May 2022Reflecting on a recent IIED review, Natalie Lartey explores common challenges in tackling racial bias in the storytelling that underpins international development research and identifies opportunities for change
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Confronting structural inequalities in South-North research collaborations
11 May 2022Lorenzo Cotula reflects on the need to address structural factors affecting collaborations across the global North and South, such as entrenched narratives, funding arrangements and deep-seated policy drivers
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In or out! Why balanced panels matter
29 April 2022IIED’s intersectional disadvantage and inequality lead explores the importance of inclusion and representation, and offers tips to researchers and organisations for promoting diverse panels
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The importance of communication for NGOs
27 April 2022A month after completing IIED’s first virtual Communications Learning Week, Gathoni Mwai and Vivienne Wendo share some of their reflections on the importance of strategic communications to help raise local voices so they can contribute to and influence global solutions to our environmental challenges
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Bridging the urban adaptation finance gap
25 April 2022To the concern about the very large urban adaptation finance gap must be added the worry that what finance exists does little to support local governments and civil society in urban communities
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Community-led waste management at scale
12 April 2022Guest blogger Laila Iskandar introduces us to the Zabbaleen – the unsung heroes managing Cairo’s waste – who provide an essential service achieving record recycling rates at no cost to the government
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Tailored cooking solutions to close the gender gap
11 April 2022An IIED study in Kitui, Kenya, explores how understanding households’ cooking needs can help improve the uptake of improved cooking devices and promote gender justice in the cooking space
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Which green energy technologies will boost jobs and income? Farmers in Kitui, Kenya decide
7 April 2022Informed by the needs and priorities of local communities, a project in Kitui county, Kenya has been exploring how green energy technologies can create employment and generate more profit for agriculture and poultry farmers
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Responses to Putin’s war risk impeding international cooperation on climate
28 March 2022Indonesia is reluctant to exclude Russia from this year's G20 summit, which could turn a climate forum into a political theatre
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The rise of the motorbike
25 March 2022Guest blogger Arif Hasan charts the rise of the motorbike to meet the mobility needs of Karachi’s population
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There’s no stopping comms – going online with Communications Learning Week 2022
18 March 2022The first virtual Communications Learning Week was a big success – but not without its challenges. Rosalind Goodrich shares her lessons for future editions
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Every voice counts: addressing inequality in research and development
16 March 2022To address colonial perspectives and social and environmental injustices in research and development practice, we must be open to learning from and including different backgrounds, contexts and systems, and to recognising both past injustices and the privilege enjoyed by researchers from the global North
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A play on Wordle: using games to communicate climate issues
15 March 2022Almost 150,000 people have played IIED’s Wordle spin-off that focuses on providing an environmental message. Matt Wright reflects on the game’s communication lessons
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Why the ‘climate club’ needs to take on investment rules
14 March 2022This year’s G7 agenda will include Germany’s vision for an ‘international climate club’ to drive urgent collaborative action. The proposal includes measures to step up climate ambition and ensure fairness and efficacy for member and non-member nations. But will this concept commit to reforming the investment treaties that can stymie climate ambition?
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How do European policies impact developing countries? We want to hear from you
11 March 2022IIED Europe’s horizon scanning project is calling for a role reversal. We’re asking developing countries for their environment and development research priorities to guide and inform the work of European think tanks and research institutes
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Only a fraction of international climate adaptation finance for least developed countries found to also support nature
10 March 2022Next week, officials will meet in Geneva for the next round of negotiations for the global biodiversity framework. High on the agenda is the need to connect climate change and nature, including mobilising finance that delivers outcomes for both. Yet, as Nora Nisi and Ebony Holland explain, there is still a long way to go to achieve this
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IPCC report signposts pathways to climate-resilient future for cities
9 March 2022Amid its devastating assessment of the impacts of climate change, the latest report highlights the potential of cities to play a major role
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Bhutan’s climate ambition: showcasing leadership, delivering inclusive action
8 March 2022Bhutan has taken bold, progressive action – while adopting a highly inclusive approach – to chart a path towards a climate-resilient future for all its citizens, setting an example for others to follow
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Negotiators return to the high seas
7 March 2022Negotiators will today resume the final round of talks on a UN treaty to conserve and regulate the use of biodiversity in international waters. A central element of the proposed treaty is area-based management tools, which are crucial for biodiversity conservation and sustainable development. But negotiators must consider how protecting areas beyond national jurisdiction impacts people, particularly in vulnerable coastal communities
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From New Zealand to Africa: managing land use trade-offs
4 March 2022As part of the Sentinel project, IIED has developed a new virtual training tool for analysing trade-offs in land use decisions. Xiaoting Hou-Jones shares how the tool was inspired by a decision-making framework designed by a team from Lincoln University, New Zealand, and evolved through trialling it in Ghana and Zambia.
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Data to drive informal settlement upgrading. Who generates it – and who owns it?
3 March 2022Guest blogger Sheela Patel joins David Satterthwaite to reflect on the data needed to drive, inform and crucially support informal settlement upgrading. And how and by whom is it generated and used?