Media centre
If you are a journalist and would like a comment, interview and/or briefing, please contact Sarah Grainger (sarah.grainger@iied.org), IIED's media manager.
This section of our site is designed for members of the media. You can find our latest press releases, contact details and a media calendar showing key events IIED is involved with and research it is currently undertaking.
IIED experts are available for interviews and background briefings on a wide range of environmental and development issues, from climate change and climate finance to China and development, the economics of development, urban issues and resilient cities, and the illegal wildlife trade. See a full list of our areas of work.
For non-media enquiries, please go to our contact us page, and for general news go to our news and comment section.
Latest press releases
14 September 2021
Aid agencies must fundamentally rethink approach to those displaced for the long-term to urban areas
13 September 2021
UK promises of vaccines and quarantine expenses are not enough. Clarity is urgently needed on virtual participation for delegates.
3 September 2021
Protecting national parks, forests and reserves from environmental degradation will only be possible if more authority is devolved to local communities and other key players at conservation sites, and better governance is built from the bottom up, according to a new paper from IIED
19 August 2021
Reacting to the revised dates of COP15 by host country China and the secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Dilys Roe, principal researcher at IIED said: “The CBD secretariat and presidency made the right decision. This additional time allows opportunity for a more fair and equitable negotiation and consultation process"
9 August 2021
Reacting to the publication of the sixth Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessment report, IIED director Andrew Norton said: “This report is the wake-up call the world needs. It shows the goal of keeping global warming to 1.5°C is still within reach, but only just and only if urgent action is agreed in the run up to and at COP26."
14 July 2021
Research finds little evidence of initiatives being led by local communities
13 July 2021
Reacting to the vote in the House of Commons supporting the UK government’s cut to the foreign aid budget, IIED director Andrew Norton said: “It’s deeply disappointing that in this crucial year as the world grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic and the growing climate, environment and poverty emergencies, the UK is choosing to step back from playing a leading international role."
Media mentions
A debt-for-climate swap plan is expected from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank ahead of COP26. IIED chief economist Paul Steele discusses the idea of debt management for climate and nature in this article, which examines the urgent issues of tackling the ballooning debt burden in poor countries.
David Kaimowitz, who heads the Forest and Farm Facility, says evidence shows that secure communal tenure rights are one of the most cost-effective ways to curb deforestation. The Forest and Farm Facility is a partnership between the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the IUCN, the AgriCord Alliance and IIED.
IIED chief economist, Paul Steele, and former Minister of Finance for Pakistan, Shamshad Akhtar, propose unlocking the potential of the IMF's Special Drawing Rights to enable a green recovery for the poorest.
IIED director Andrew Norton states "Cuts to the overseas aid budget risk not only undermining the UK's reputation for progressive development action, but also the chances of the UK presidency delivering a successful outcome to COP26. The aid cuts undermine the UK's ability to ask other countries to step up, as well as reducing the resources available for climate action in poorer countries." Andrew is quoted in an article reporting on the Climate and Development Summit hosted by the UK Government.
Ministerial meeting aims to give developing nations suffering the worst impacts of global warming an opportunity to help set the global political agenda on issues like climate finance. But IIED director of climate change research Clare Shakya said, "Britain's aid reduction would undermine its credibility in encouraging other wealthy nations to step up funding for climate action. In the middle of a pandemic, to have health or education services under threat because of one donor suddenly disappearing can throw overall progress off track. It's incredible that (the UK) could think that isn't a problem."