Economics blogs
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Business as usual – or business with purpose?
17 April 2019As we launch our new strategy, Laura Kelly, director of IIED’s Shaping Sustainable Markets research group, considers how the private sector can respond to development and environmental challenges – and how IIED can support business to deliver positive change
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Covering elephant tracks: can insurance compensate farmers for wildlife damage?
27 March 2019A new IIED-led project in Kenya and Sri Lanka is exploring whether insurance schemes can compensate women and men small-scale farmers for crop and property damage caused by human-wildlife conflict, primarily from elephants
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Focusing the blue economy future on small-scale fisheries
18 February 2019At the heart of IIED’s fisheries economics and ocean programme are small-scale fisheries and the people linked to those fisheries. Together, they play a large part in the future health and sustainability of the blue economy
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Environment or the economy? How Uganda uses natural capital accounts in policymaking
9 January 2019When half of a country’s wealth is natural capital it is vital this resource is managed well. If people, businesses and government policies put natural capital at risk, then long term sustainable development is jeopardised. A recent meeting in Kampala, Uganda, discussed how natural capital accounts can inform better decision making for a viable future
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Who should carry the financial risks in large private sector financed hydropower projects?
17 December 2018New research will examine the risks of funding hydropower and how these risks can be addressed to break down the financing barriers
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Investor-state arbitration: an opportunity for real reform?
7 December 2018An ongoing multilateral process could provide a unique opportunity to reform a contentious area of global economic governance – but only if it properly identifies the key problems
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The future of work, technological change and global inequality
2 November 2018Technical and digital innovation are transforming the nature of work, employment patterns and international trade. IIED director Andrew Norton looks at how technological change brings both threats and opportunities – and how developing countries can take action to ensure their citizens have the skills they need
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African cities can raise more money. Kenya and South Africa offer useful lessons
31 October 2018Africa's cities are expanding at an unprecedented rate. Sarah Colenbrander and Ian Palmer highlight research that shows how Africa's national governments can support cities and unlock vital investment.
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What is 'aggregation' and how can it get climate finance working for the most vulnerable?
19 June 2018Climate finance is not being invested at the volume and scale needed to enable vulnerable communities across the world to respond effectively to the impacts of climate change. Sam Greene discusses some of the innovations that are 'aggregating' finance, recipients or information together to help money to flow to where it matters
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Public-private partnerships and aid's 'private turn': addressing the investment law dimensions
30 January 2018Public-private partnerships are emerging as important vehicles for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Their legal and financial implications must be carefully considered
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Financing sustainable infrastructure: a tale of two cities
9 January 2018How can cities in poor countries raise funds for major infrastructure projects? Sarah Colenbrander and Denise Chan look at two success stories and suggest how local governments can build their financial skills and credibility with investors
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China's outward public investment – good news for the environment and tackling poverty?
24 October 2017It's been a busy six months for China's outward public investment. Paul Steele, IIED's chief economist, reviews what's been happening and whether it's good news for the environment and development
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Are impact investors missing a trick by overlooking local communities?
7 September 2017Guest blogger Katharina Neureiter explores whether impact investors are missing a trick by not engaging with community groups
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BRICS summit: an opportunity to lead a fairer more sustainable world
3 September 2017Ahead of this week's BRICS summit, IIED's chief economist identifies two key ways the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa can fill the growing global political vacuum and promote sustainability
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Financial inequalities; defining our age
22 August 2017A decade on from the global financial crisis, can the world's banks and financial institutions learn about value and values from grassroots savings schemes that help the world's lowest-income people?
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Automation, the changing world of work, and sustainable development
17 August 2017Technological change, especially automation and digital innovation, are likely to have a profound impact on jobs in developing countries. Countries should act now to refocus their economic and social policies to make them more sustainable
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Shaking the money pot to protect nature
25 July 2017Nature gives us a lot: water, timber, minerals, biodiversity, food, clean air… But the perception that natural capital is endless and free leads to overuse and under-investment – and we constantly hear that there's not enough money to invest in the environment. The 22nd Poverty Environment Partnership conference asked how we can shake the piggy bank to give something back to nature
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Highs and lows of the transition to an inclusive green economy
31 March 2017Paul Steele reflects on the highs and lows emerging from this week's UN PAGE conference in Berlin, as leaders in sustainable development gathered to tackle what it takes for a global shift to economies that are fair and green.
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Money where it matters: how to deliver finance to the local level
15 December 2016At an IIED-hosted event, financiers, decision makers, practitioners and researchers tackled three key questions on how to get climate finance to where it's needed most
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Six steps to local climate finance
6 November 2016Evidence from community-focused initiatives suggests that climate and development funds can deliver local finance by adopting six key structural changes
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Should the Green Climate Fund flow to hydropower?
31 October 2016Jamie Skinner discusses whether tightening up standards to minimise social and environmental risks could shift the debate on hydropower
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The Green Climate Fund: will the vulnerable be overlooked in a rush to spend?
24 June 2016As the Green Climate Fund's board meets to decide on a second round of spending it needs to prioritise initiatives that will reach the climate vulnerable, rather than large-scale business as usual investments
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Expediting direct access to the GCF for least developed countries
9 May 2016The 10th community-based adaptation conference culminated in Dhaka last week with a strong message to engage communities in climate change action. This implies a greater role for local governments and communities in determining how climate-related decisions are made
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Forced to sell the roof over their heads
4 April 2016Compensation supports fisher families during a ban on hilsa fishing in Bangladesh – but a visit to a family in Govinda exposes the harsh realities of income loss
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Plunging oil prices: what happens to our oceans?
15 February 2016Falling oil prices might be benefiting the UK economy, but are the world's fish stocks paying the price?