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

Webinar

This online Stockholm+50 event saw the launch of a report on finance supporting locally-led action for people, nature and climate.

Online
Last updated 30 May 2022
A woman in a crowded room raises her hand to speak.

A woman raises her hand to speak at a community meeting in Aurangabad, India (Photo: Simone D. McCourtie/World Bank via Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Climate change, the loss of nature and persistent poverty are complex problems threatening our societies, economies and ecosystems.

Addressing these interconnected crises over the Decade of Action will be a central part of discussions at Stockholm+50, as countries and leaders across the world regroup to reflect on the 50-year sustainable development journey and turn their minds to what more is needed.

Ensuring Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPLCs) can influence decision-making, have agency over environment and development actions, and control over finances and resources is critical. Yet much of the control of finance and decision-making is still held at the national and global level, often leaving IPLCs as beneficiaries of activities rather than active agents of change.

Stockholm+50 presents an opportunity to design a future where locally-led action sits alongside a series of structural adjustments to deliver a more accessible, equitable and effective finance system.

This online event co-hosted by IIED and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) launched a new report for Stockholm+50 that explores the role of locally-led action for people, nature and climate, and proposes recommendations for governments, multilateral development banks and global funds to drive change through support for local level decision-making over resources and finance.

Speakers from the global South, research institutes and the finance sector shared their lived experience, presented research, identified the challenges and built momentum for the uptake of critical solutions.

Importantly, this event shone a light on how Stockholm+50 can drive forward the transformation needed at all levels to enhance support for just, equitable and locally-led solutions through the decade ahead.

About the speakers

  • Ma Estrella “Esther” Penunia is secretary general for the Asian Farmers’ Association for Sustainable Rural Development (AFA).
  • Simangele Msweli is the senior manager of the Youth Leadership Program at the Africa Wildlife Foundation.
  • Terence Hay-Edie is the programme advisor (biodiversity) for the Small Grants Programme, Global Environment Facility.
  • Dora N. Cudjoe is a senior operations officer and programme coordinator, stakeholder engagement, Climate Investment Funds.
  • Ebony Holland (co-moderator) is a senior researcher and nature-climate policy lead for the Natural Resources and Climate Change research groups at IIED
  • Ulrika Åkesson is the lead policy specialist for environment and climate change at Sida.
  • Omer van Renterghem is senior policy adviser for water and environment in the inclusive Green Growth Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.

Event coverage

A recording of the event is available below or on IIED's YouTube channel, where viewers are also able to use timestamps to go straight to specific speakers.

About IIED Debates

This event was part of the IIED Debates series. Through the convening of expert speakers and external stakeholders, IIED brings together an international community to discuss critical issues.

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 online and when possible in our London and Edinburgh offices.

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Contact

Juliette Tunstall (juliette.tunstall@iied.org), internal engagement and external events officer, IIED's Communications Group