Blog archives
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Locally led adaption to climate change: the start of a 10-year learning journey
12 January 2021In early 2021, a fast-growing group of experts will meet in Gobeshona to define a 10-year learning agenda to advance principles for critical locally led adaption to climate change. Saleemul Huq and Clare Shakya explain the importance of this group and the journey ahead
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Exploring intersectionality: what does it look like for IIED and our partners?
6 January 2021A recent learning lunch at IIED prompted Rosalind Goodrich to reflect on how we and our partners understand and address complex and interconnected inequalities in our research and beyond
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How to green Africa from the grassroots
4 January 2021As COVID-19 prompts rethinks, investing in renewable energy, regenerative agriculture and skills could help Africa handle future crises
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IIED's best of 2020: videos
30 December 2020This year arguably more than ever there was an increased focus on using video to communicate sustainable development issues.
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Where’s the capital for homegrown companies? Why energy access investments in Kenya need to go local
29 December 2020The importance of local investments in energy access in Kenya is the focus of IIED's Kevin Johnstone
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Bridging the gap: how women-led federations are strengthening communities in Patna's informal settlements
23 December 2020Following devastation from COVID-19 and monsoon rains, women collectives have been instrumental in securing crucial infrastructure provisions and service delivery
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Unpacking regulatory chill: the case of mining in the Santurbán páramo in Colombia
21 December 2020Do international investment treaties put a 'chill' on environmental policy? To answer this question, we need to see the state as a complex web of actors, not a unitary whole
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Promoting producer agency in agricultural value chain contracts: peer learning (in a pandemic)
16 December 2020Thierry Berger and Emily Polack summarise highlights from a recent learning event on the role of contracts in promoting the agency of agricultural producers – and reflect on the process of sharing experiences virtually
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What happens when the landgrabbers leave? An account from Kilwa, Tanzania
14 December 2020An encouraging story from Tanzania about how four communities regained control of their lands
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Making natural capital accounting an institution in Uganda
11 December 2020After joining a workshop to hear about some of Uganda’s recently completed natural capital accounts, Rosalind Goodrich reflects on what it takes to make this approach a fixture in government policy and process
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Promoting producer agency in food systems – might new global guidelines offer any hope?
10 December 2020With a new set of guidelines on food systems and nutrition under negotiation, Emily Polack reflects on their potential to give small-scale producers a greater say in food systems governance – one key to a healthier, fairer and more sustainable future for all
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How small changes can make a big impact in achieving sustainable sanitation
9 December 2020Facebook guest blogger Laia Gemma García describes how the traditional pit latrine got an upgrade as part of a project in rural Tanzania
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The inconvenient truth about ‘capacity’ strengthening in global development
8 December 2020To work with effective and progressive civil society movements in low-income countries, do international NGOs need to do less capacity strengthening, and work as allies of these movements instead? Drawing on lessons from a new report, Natalie Lartey discusses how advocates can advance this agenda
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City residents and urban refugees: from shared living to shared futures
7 December 2020Tools used to document the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in one of Nairobi's largest informal settlements are also being used to chart how the lockdowns disproportionately affected displaced people
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Rubbish dump turned lush urban farm
3 December 2020A new urban farm, springing up on a former garbage dump in Chiang Mai, Thailand has become a lifeline for the area’s urban poor communities
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Loss and damage from climate change has pushed Sierra Leoneans far beyond their ability to adapt
2 December 2020Over the last 15 years, residents of Freetown, Sierra Leone have witnessed first-hand the escalating trail of destruction left in the wake of floods, sea rises, mudslides, landslides and more
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Getting personal: tailoring support to power up Tanzania’s rural businesses
1 December 2020Drawing on new survey findings, Sarah Best discusses how customising support for small and micro businesses in rural Tanzania could unlock productivity
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A green recovery from COVID-19? Not without climate, nature and development solutions
26 November 2020COVID-19 has made the world stop and think. What kind of future do we want? And what recovery measures will get us there? An IIED event at London Climate Action Week this month made the case for an inclusive and equitable green recovery that places climate, nature and development at its heart
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Equipped and productive: better financing for community businesses in Tanzania
26 November 2020Principal researcher Ben Garside provides a taster of the growing opportunities for community businesses in Tanzania to use new energy supplies productively to expand and develop their businesses, while discussing the associated financing challenges
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How climate change losses could open the Solomon Islands’ old wounds
25 November 2020Forced relocation is on the horizon as communities in the Solomon Islands face loss of freshwater and land. Guest blogger Solomon Yeo fears this could spark fresh tensions between ethnic groups – and lead the country to revisit its dark history
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Can promotion groups help strengthen women’s access and control over land?
24 November 2020In Senegal, women’s ‘promotion groups’ have traditionally been vehicles for helping women share resources, ideas and experiences to increase income. But they are also – somewhat expectedly – enabling women to access and control land, although with limitations. Guest blogger Ibrahima Dia discusses
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IIED is on the move
20 November 2020Ahead of IIED’s 50th anniversary in 2021, IIED director Andrew Norton announces plans for a change to the institute's location in London and the establishment of IIED-Europe as a new independent entity in the Netherlands
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Engulfed by the sea: the loss and damage from climate change
18 November 2020People from the Solomon Islands are experiencing profound loss and damage from climate change every day. Guest blogger Gladys Habu calls on the global community to recognise these losses, and act
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Outside the large cities
13 November 2020David Satterthwaite looks back on research carried out in small and intermediate urban centres, over nearly five decades
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What does the Biden win mean for climate action?
12 November 2020On climate finance, faster emissions cuts and setting the climate action traffic signal for business from red to green, a Biden administration could produce big shifts