IIED's best of 2014: publications

In case you missed them, here are IIED's 10 most downloaded publications from 2014, with links to related blog posts and press releases.

Article, 29 December 2014
A collection of IIED's most downloaded publications in 2014 (Image: IIED)

A collection of IIED's most downloaded publications in 2014 (Image: IIED)

Sustainable Development Goals: a forest module for a transformative agenda

This report says forests (and landscapes with trees) are such an important part of a number of different Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that we recommend working towards a transformative 'forest module'.
 
This approach would improve on the more limited current focus on sustainable forest management, deforestation and reforestation targets. Download the report and read a blog by IIED principal researcher Simon Milledge.
 
The elephant in the room: sustainable use in the illegal wildlife trade debate
 

As UK Prime Minister David Cameron prepared to host an international conference to tackle the booming illegal transnational trade in wildlife, IIED experts welcomed the new push to address this enduring problem but warned that efforts could fail without appropriate incentives for local people's involvement. 

This report urges policymakers to combine law enforcement and efforts to reduce demand with incentives that encourage poor communities to use wildlife in a sustainable and well regulated way. 

Download the report and read the news release.

Fisheries and the post-2015 development agenda

As world fish stocks run dangerously low, we are likely to see 'fishless oceans' by 2050 and millions of livelihoods lost unless there is a change in current trends. This report sets out a clear and achievable vision for the post-2015 development era, characterised by healthy ocean ecosystems and sustainably managed global fisheries.
 
Download the report and read a blog by IIED senior researcher Essam Yassin Mohammed.
 
Building resilience to environmental change by transforming gender relations
 

This report, which stemmed from an IIED workshop on integrating gender into environment and development work, highlighted how measures were needed to correct the inherent causes of gender inequality in order to be truly transformative. 

Download the report, read a blog by IIED researcher Janna Tenzing and see a round-up of the workshop.

Understanding key positions of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in climate change negotiations

Ahead of the UN climate summit in New York in September, and the UNFCCC COP20 in Peru in December, this report set out three of the key positions for the Least Developed Countries group: on a 1.5 degree pathway, on a binding regime and on achieving a comprehensive climate change agreement.
 
Download the report, read The Gambia's Special Climate Envoy, Pa Ousman Jarju's reflections on the LDCs' leadership at the summit and read IIED principal researcher Achala Abeysinghe's description of the LDCs as the summit's "unsung heroes".
 
Ecosystem- and community-based adaptation: learning from natural resource management
 

As ecosystem-based adaptation (EBA) and its sister, community-based adaptation (CBA), have gained traction in recent years, policymakers and planners are increasingly promoting an integrated approach. 

This could potentially benefit the world's poorest people who are worst hit by climate change and who are also disproportionately reliant on ecosystems and their services. The report describes key lessons from community-based natural resource management that EBA and CBA should address as they mature. Download the report.

Know Your City: community profiling of informal settlements

Urban poor communities across Africa, Asia and Latin America affiliated to Shack/Slum Dwellers International (SDI) have begun a global campaign to standardise and aggregate the data they collect at settlement level.
 
This data on their everyday lives and living conditions allows them to communicate the scale and extent of informality and deprivation in the spaces they occupy in their cities. The report shows how, by standardising community data collection processes and management, SDI federations hope to have more impact, using the data to work with government officials to make real improvements to the areas where they live. Download the report.
 
Battle-scarred forest governance tactics
 

Wise global prescriptions for managing forests abound. But we cannot combat illegal logging or deforestation-driven emissions with international analysis or diktat alone. IIED''s Forest Governance Learning Group, working on the ground for over a decade, has helped drive progress in 10 countries — from recognition of community resource rights to reforestation-boosting small enterprises. This report provides a set of 'battle-proven' tactics that anyone can use. 

Download the report and learn how IIED is also working to improve action for sustainable Chinese investment in Africa's forests.

Securing social justice in the green economy

In April, IIED and CAFOD published guidelines for policymakers to improve the social outcomes of green economy strategies. The guidelines illustrate how a failure to address social justice can increase living costs and cause job losses for disadvantaged groups.
 
 
Agricultural commercialisation contracts: concessions over people?
 

Recent and expected changes in global agricultural commodity prices have fostered a renewed business interest in tropical agriculture. 

Agricultural commercialisation concessions (ACCs) – contracts between governments and agribusiness allowing the company to supply inputs, purchase farm produce and sometimes run processing operations and/or provide storage, marketing and distribution services in a given geographical area – can have far-reaching repercussions for sustainable development in recipient countries. 

They could provide new livelihood opportunities, but there are concerns ACCs are concluded with little consultation and grant companies monopoly rights. Although most contracts are not publicly available and confidentiality restrictions apply, this report discusses some of the issues at stake with the aim of promoting awareness and public debate. Download the report and see IIED's recently expanded legal tools website area.

Best of the year

Further reading