IIED Debates

The IIED Debates series of events offers insight into the world’s most pressing challenges and creates an opportunity to debate and explore solutions.

Through the convening of expert speakers and external stakeholders, IIED brings together an international community to discuss critical issues. By increasing our reach we hope to listen to and learn from broader audiences and perspectives and together move the agenda forward.

IIED Debates encompass both physical and digital events, including critical themes, breakfast debriefs and webinars. These events are public and are hosted regularly throughout the year in our London and Edinburgh offices and online.

You can watch a playlist of video recordings of the events in the IIED Debates series on IIED's YouTube channel.

IIED Debates

Events newsletter

All IIED Debates events

Beyond COP30: climate finance, justice and action in 2026

Breaking the debt burden: how to unlock finance for climate and nature

Far Away From Home: exploring city responses to refugees

Critical minerals, international policy and a just energy transition

Unpacking the climate and nature COPs: what happened and what next?

The decarbonisation debate: exploring climate action for equitable cities

Housing justice: securing affordable inner-city homes through retrofitting

Looking ahead at 2024: what's in store for climate and nature?

What does justice mean for the energy transition and how do we achieve it?

Why does gender matter in a ‘just transition’?

Social protection that works for cities: lessons from the pandemic

How can we achieve a world without long-term refugee camps?

Better for everyone: exposing the hidden value of equitable housing in informal settlements

Hidden handbrakes – exposing the unseen blockers of climate action

Preparing for crisis: investing in climate adaptation and disaster resilience

Heteronormativity in the development sector: where are we now?

Co-creating pathways to urban equality in a time of crisis

A narrative for change: how can racism in storytelling impact development?

Addressing loss and damage: actions to respond, recover and reduce the risk

Implementing biocredits: making the market work for nature and people

Making finance flow for locally-led action in the Decade of Action

Why women are footing the bill for climate: lessons from Bangladesh

COP26 debrief: where do we go from here?

Citizen participation in planning: from the neighbourhood to the city

Towards a nature positive economic recovery post COVID-19

Closing the digital gender gap: lessons from the pandemic

Tackling climate change in fragile states and protracted crisis situations

Why eat wild meat? Insights from Africa and lessons for COVID-19 responses

A green recovery for inclusion: debt relief and special drawing rights for climate action

Productive uses of energy: what does it take to stimulate demand?

Community-led housing: a pathway for more caring and just urban futures

A triple win: managing debt, climate and nature in the pandemic recovery

China, ecological civilisation, and green economy vision: 2021 and beyond

LDC reflections of 2020: climate action, ambition and the path forward

Energy, finance and community business – where is the money?

Why inclusion matters for a green post-COVID recovery

Food systems of the poor: shaping the agenda for the Food Systems Summit

COVID-19, debt relief, and the climate and biodiversity crises

Land, investment and migration: a portrait of village life in Mali

Closing the gap: financing the transition towards an inclusive blue economy

Climate activism in the time of COVID-19

Nature-based solutions for climate change: from global ambition to local action

Webinar: Gender inequalities in social protection – people, households and climate adaptation

IIED debrief: COP25 and what it means for the climate crisis

Critical theme: Small-scale farming and the future of the European food system