Paul Steele

Chief economist, Shaping Sustainable Markets

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.

Interviews

IIED expert interviews: Paul Steele

Paul Steele's projects

Head and neck of a giraffe.

Biocredits for nature conservation and poverty reduction

Project, Jun 2022

Tackling the debt, climate and nature crises together

Project, Jun 2020

Elephants roam the plain in Kenya

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

Project, Oct 2018

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

Project, Apr 2016

Latest publications

Public participation in climate budgeting: learning from experiences in Bangladesh, Indonesia and Nepal

Still bearing the burden: how poor rural women in Bangladesh are paying most for climate risks

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

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

Innovative financing for Africa: harnessing debt for climate and nature

Financement innovant pour l'Afrique: exploiter la dette en faveur du climat et de la nature

Paul Steele's blog posts

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

Blog, Apr 2021

Aerial view of forest

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

Blog, Feb 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

Blog, Oct 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

Blog, Mar 2020

A man looking up at a partially constructed roof

Bearing the climate burden – Bangladesh families are paying too much

Blog, Sep 2019

Four elephants roam the plain on the Maasai Mara, Kenya

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

Blog, Mar 2019