Biodiversity blogs
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Choosing a sustainable way out of the pandemic’s economic chaos
12 October 2020With debt swaps governments and finance institutions can address the triple crises of debt, climate change and the destruction of nature
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Local must lead action to tackle world’s multiple interconnected challenges
8 October 2020Sam Greene distils key messages drawn from lively online dialogue with the 500-plus participants from over 70 countries who joined the 14th International Conference on Community-based Adaptation to climate change
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United in a call for higher ambition on the global biodiversity agenda
18 September 2020Ahead of the UN biodiversity summit later this month, a partnership of environment and development organisations – including IIED – are urging world leaders to ramp up ambition on action for nature, climate and development
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CBA14: explore with us how nature-based solutions support local action for adaptation
21 August 2020The ‘nature-based solutions’ track at next month’s 14th CBA event will explore how nature’s ‘services’ can support local communities to manage the impacts of climate change
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Exploring why people eat wild meat – and designing better alternatives
29 July 2020New research from Cameroon investigating drivers for wild meat consumption will help find sustainable alternatives that work for rural people
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Time to move unseen foresters into the limelight
14 July 2020A new report spotlights alternative approaches by which sustainable forest management can deliver more for indigenous people and local communities
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Truly transformative change is key to combating the biodiversity crisis
30 June 2020For the Convention on Biological Diversity’s new post-2020 framework to be effective – and not more empty rhetoric – governance needs more attention
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Working with nature to build back better from COVID-19: inspirations from farmers in China
23 June 2020Yufen Chuang and Xiaoting Hou Jones reflect on why working with nature to adapt to climate change can offer valuable lessons on how to build back better from COVID-19
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Foreign investment, knowledge and international arbitration: inside a research trip
22 June 2020International investment law and investor dispute arbitration too often fail to notice the concerns of local actors. Guest blogger Nicolás Perrone argues that governance of these international mechanisms needs to take a more holistic, development-based view of the issues
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Finding solutions in nature for climate change
29 May 2020On the International Day of Biological Diversity, IIED hosted a multi-stakeholder webinar on how to work with nature to mitigate and adapt to climate change and halt biodiversity loss. IIED senior researcher Xiaoting Hou Jones chaired the event, and here she shares some highlights from the discussions
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Protecting indigenous foods, preserving biodiversity – the solutions are in nature
22 May 2020On this year’s International Day for Biological Diversity, Natalie Lartey and Immaculate Yossa Daisy discuss how advocacy to protect Uganda’s indigenous food is simultaneously preserving the nation’s biodiversity
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Coming through the pandemic the right way up
1 May 2020COVID-19 risks exacerbating inequality and ecological destruction, but it may also bring lessons of environmental and social justice that shift values, strengthen solidarity and encourage people to mobilise for change
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Despite COVID-19, using wild species may still be the best way to save them
1 April 2020As the content of the post-2020 biodiversity framework is being developed, Dilys Roe discusses the role of sustainable use in reducing biodiversity loss and saving wild species, and some of the potential implications of COVID-19
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Harnessing the power of bees to benefit forest and people
26 March 2020To mark the International Day of Forests earlier this week, we’re sharing a story about a beekeeping project that’s helping to conserve Kenya’s Loitokitok forest and support the surrounding community
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Women ally with nature to adapt to climate change
6 March 2020To mark International Women’s Day 2020, IIED is profiling seven women in Chile, China and South Africa working to protect and restore nature, promote a more sustainable use of natural resources and adapt to climate change
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Making the market work for nature while helping to tackle poverty
3 March 2020Marking World Wildlife Day today (3 March), IIED is proposing a new system that would help protect biodiversity and also reduce poverty, bringing conservation and development together
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Is adaptation the missing ingredient from the new UN biodiversity action plan?
24 February 2020This week governments from across the world will meet in Rome to discuss the first draft of a new global action plan to tackle biodiversity loss. Dilys Roe asks whether there is something missing from the agenda
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Planting pilot has vision to nurture young tree ambassadors
11 February 2020Guest blogger Joanes Ooko Odero reports from Kenya on a new tree-planting initiative
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Jobs, nature and the Green New Deal: lessons from the global South
30 January 2020A new article in the 'Journal of Philosophical Transactions B' explores how experiences from large-scale social protection programmes in the global South could help us link two important elements of ideas for a Green New Deal, creating local jobs for a just transition while increasing ecosystem stewardship
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Nature 4 Development – introducing IIED’s new 2020 initiative
29 January 2020A new initiative from IIED is bringing environment and development organisations together to highlight the role that nature plays in supporting poor people’s livelihoods and contributing to sustainable development in poor countries
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A tale of two villages: community perspectives on the impact of Botswana’s trophy hunting ban
24 January 2020How does a trophy hunting ban affect people who live alongside wildlife? Helen Muller reports on her conversations with local people in Botswana
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How can we avoid another ‘lost decade’ in the climate fight?
6 January 2020As 2020 begins, IIED director Andrew Norton considers what it will take to galvanise meaningful action on climate change against a ticking clock and political reticence
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Nature-based solutions to climate change: stories from Chile
12 December 2019The last-minute decision to shift the location of the UN climate negotiations from Santiago to Madrid saw committed multilateralism at work; despite the logistical challenges, world leaders have pressed ahead with these crucial talks in Spain. While the climate spotlight has moved continents, Xiaoting Hou-Jones shares stories from Chile on how nature can support adaptation efforts
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Acting on the planetary emergency
29 November 2019With evidence of grave ecological and social crises mounting, director Andrew Norton considers the scale and shape of the challenges ahead and how IIED can step up action to meet them
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Information value chains – from data to research communication
15 November 2019What’s needed to sustain the flow of information from field data to policy communication? Rosalind Goodrich reports from a meeting in Durban that considered how to get biodiversity information to the heart of government decision-making