Paul Steele

Senior associate

Paul Steele's picture

Paul Steele is an economist specialising on the linkages between environment, climate and poverty reduction. He has more than 20 years' experience working for international organisations, including the United Nations Development Programme, the European Union, the World Bank and the International Union for Conservation of Nature, as well as the UK and the Sri Lankan governments.

He was previously IIED's chief economist.

Video playlist

Projects

A large group of people carrying signs make the words 'Just transition now' by holding up letters on boards.

Advancing just transitions in least developed and developing nations through global diplomacy, research and climate-trade-development solutions

Active Project

Two people in a boat on a large body of water, next to a group of hippos bathing

Biocredit Investment Operations (BIO): finance for nature and people

Active Project

Elephants with a mountain in the distant background

Supporting Jordan and Kenya to mobilise finance for climate and nature

Archived Project

Head and shoulders photo of four people in a videocall

Natural Capital forum: better data for better decisions

Archived Project

Head and neck of a giraffe.

Biocredits for nature conservation and poverty reduction

Active Project

A sea turtle

Tackling the debt, climate and nature crises together

Active Project

Elephants roam the plain in Kenya

Livelihoods Insurance from Elephants (LIFE) in Kenya and Sri Lanka

Active Project

Seeds collected from a farm in Chiapas, Mexico, for replanting and use in traditional medicine. (Photo: Ina Porras)

Conditional transfers for poverty reduction and ecosystem management

Archived Project

Insights

Cattle drinking water from a lake

Lessons from Paris: global biodiversity framework must engage business, grow finance

Insight, 11 May 2021

Two men with vests from the Red Cross in front of a destroyed building

Here’s how to propel a green recovery for the poorest

Insight, 07 April 2021

Aerial view of forest

The Dasgupta Review needed to engage today's finance ministers: here’s how

Insight, 11 February 2021

View of the coast, with a small island surrounded by water, seen from some foliage

Choosing a sustainable way out of the pandemic’s economic chaos

Insight, 12 October 2020

A baby orangutan clings to its mother as she hangs from a branch

Making the market work for nature while helping to tackle poverty

Insight, 03 March 2020

A man looking up at a partially constructed roof

Bearing the climate burden – Bangladesh families are paying too much

Insight, 20 September 2019

Four elephants roam the plain on the Maasai Mara, Kenya

Covering elephant tracks: can insurance compensate farmers for wildlife damage?

Insight, 27 March 2019

Durban Beach, South Africa (Photo: Darren Glanville, Creative Commons via Flickr)

Investing in natural capital to deliver the SDGs and reduce poverty

Insight, 17 July 2017

Six representatives of developing country governments – Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Mozambique, Nepal and the Philippines – shared their experiences of rolling out the sustainable development agenda at the 21st Poverty Environment Partnership meeting (Image: IIED)

Country progress on putting the sustainable development goals into action

Insight, 23 June 2016

Delegates at the 20th Poverty Environment Partnership (PEP) meeting integrate poverty and environmental issues into the global agenda in Edinburgh in late May (Photo: Matt Wright/IIED)

Putting ourselves out of business – forward planning for the PEP

Insight, 29 June 2015

Should public money from Europe used to build wind farms, such as this one in Mulan, around 170km north east of Harbin City in Heilongiang, China, constitute official development assistance? (Photo: Land Rover Our Planet, Creative Commons, via Flickr)

Development finance and climate finance: achieving zero poverty and zero emissions

Insight, 01 June 2015

Solar-powered irrigated water pumps such as this one in Bangladesh can help villagers cope with unreliable rainfall patterns (Photo: Neha Rai/IIED)

Climate finance must reach poor families

Insight, 16 February 2015

The Swiss ski resort of Davos, which hosts the World Economic Forum (Photo: swiss-image.ch/Michael Buholzer, Creative Commons via Flickr)

The glass is half full: in 2015 we need to demand that our leaders deliver

Insight, 21 January 2015

Publications

Preview of 22608iied

Aligning debt relief for climate and nature with the Principles of Effective Development Cooperation

25 February 2025

Preview of 22201iied

Biocredit catalogue: a collection of biocredit developers and schemes

01 December 2023

Preview of 21371iied

Redesigning debt swaps for a more sustainable future

08 March 2023

Preview of 21261IIED

Tracking the money for climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction

03 March 2023

Preview of 21251IIED

Jordan climate and nature financing analysis

08 February 2023

Preview of 21251iied

Kenya climate and nature financing options analysis

08 February 2023

Preview of 21216IIED

Biocredits to finance nature and people

05 December 2022

Preview of 20646iied

After the Paris agreement, the debt deluge

18 October 2022

Preview of 21031iied

Mainstreaming public participation into climate budgeting

04 August 2022

Preview of 20851iied

Still bearing the burden

13 May 2022

Preview of 20536iied

Financing an inclusive, green recovery in Least Developed Countries: debt instruments for climate and nature

02 November 2021

Preview of 20576G

Creating a Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST) at the IMF: How to Support Climate-vulnerable Countries

21 October 2021

Preview of 20486IIED

Innovative financing for Africa: harnessing debt for climate and nature

01 October 2021

Preview of 20281g

Key performance indicators for climate and nature outcomes in debt management in West Africa

24 June 2021

Preview of 20166IIED

New biodiversity framework can learn from climate change experience

11 May 2021

Preview of 16674IIED

Tackling the triple crisis. Using debt swaps to address debt, climate and nature loss post-COVID-19

01 September 2020

Preview of 16664IIED

Making the market work for nature

01 March 2020

Preview of 16643IIED

Bearing the climate burden: how households in Bangladesh are spending too much

01 September 2019

Preview of G04412

Livelihoods Insurance from Elephants (LIFE) in Kenya and Sri Lanka Annual Report

01 June 2019

Preview of 16648IIED

Human–wildlife conflict and insurance. Can insurance reduce the costs of living with wildlife?

01 March 2019

Preview of 16645IIED

Subsidy reform and distributive justice in fisheries

01 February 2019

Preview of 16646IIED

No hidden catch - Mainstreaming values of small-scale fisheries in national accounts

01 February 2019

Preview of 17419IIED

Money where it matters: financing the SDGs and Paris Agreement through local finance

01 April 2017

Preview of 10178IIED

Delivering real change: getting international climate finance to the local level

01 March 2017