Natural resource management blogs
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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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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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CBA14: explore with us how nature-based solutions support local action for adaptation
21 August 2020The ‘nature-based solutions’ track at next month’s 14th CBA event will explore how nature’s ‘services’ can support local communities to manage the impacts of climate change
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Sustaining coffee producers’ agency in the context of COVID-19
4 August 2020Vava Coffee is social enterprise seeking to create positive social and economic change in Kenya’s coffee industry, the implications of COVID-19 and possible solutions for sustaining progress
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“Public officers are also human beings”: trust and environmental governance
8 July 2020Turning legal frameworks into real agents for environmental change can depend on understanding complex human stories. Guest blogger Paula Ungar reports from Colombia
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Truly transformative change is key to combating the biodiversity crisis
30 June 2020For the Convention on Biological Diversity’s new post-2020 framework to be effective – and not more empty rhetoric – governance needs more attention
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Foreign investment, knowledge and international arbitration: inside a research trip
22 June 2020International investment law and investor dispute arbitration too often fail to notice the concerns of local actors. Guest blogger Nicolás Perrone argues that governance of these international mechanisms needs to take a more holistic, development-based view of the issues
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Finding solutions in nature for climate change
29 May 2020On the International Day of Biological Diversity, IIED hosted a multi-stakeholder webinar on how to work with nature to mitigate and adapt to climate change and halt biodiversity loss. IIED senior researcher Xiaoting Hou Jones chaired the event, and here she shares some highlights from the discussions
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Will COVID-19 leave fuel-rich African countries gasping for breath?
27 April 2020As coronavirus takes its toll on Africa’s oil and gas-reliant economies, Dr Fatima Denton asks if recovery could herald an era of bold new thinking on economic diversification to reduce reliance on natural resources
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Mining reforms have left Colombia’s artisanal miners behind
15 April 2020Following a recent visit to California, Colombia, Jimena Sierra and Brendan Schwartz discuss the impact of the government’s push to promote large-scale mining on artisanal and small-scale gold miners
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Despite COVID-19, using wild species may still be the best way to save them
1 April 2020As the content of the post-2020 biodiversity framework is being developed, Dilys Roe discusses the role of sustainable use in reducing biodiversity loss and saving wild species, and some of the potential implications of COVID-19
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A tale of two villages: community perspectives on the impact of Botswana’s trophy hunting ban
24 January 2020How does a trophy hunting ban affect people who live alongside wildlife? Helen Muller reports on her conversations with local people in Botswana
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Information value chains – from data to research communication
15 November 2019What’s needed to sustain the flow of information from field data to policy communication? Rosalind Goodrich reports from a meeting in Durban that considered how to get biodiversity information to the heart of government decision-making
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Who’s listening? Community voices on illegal wildlife trade
6 November 2019To effectively fight poaching and illegal wildlife trade (IWT), governments, NGOs and their partners across Latin America must listen to, engage with and provide incentives for the communities that live alongside wildlife
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La nouvelle loi minière du Mali : une amélioration, mais pas pour les artisans miniers
8 October 2019Mali’s long-awaited mining reforms are here. A mix of progressive and outdated measures, the code must pass parliamentary review before entering into law. We assess the significance of three aspects of the legislation
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Rebalancing power in the Kenya-UK green bean value chain
9 September 2019Farmers and workers often struggle to influence decision-making and trading patterns within global value chains. A recent IIED webinar discussed an initiative to overcome hurdles for farmers and workers to secure a stronger voice and influence trading arrangements within the Kenya-UK green bean value chain
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Why procurement should be the "next frontier" in transparency for mining
1 July 2019Mine sites often spend more on obtaining goods and services – hundreds of millions of dollars a year – than anything else. Jeff Geipel says this procurement needs better data and transparency, but it has the potential to become a lever for economic and social development.
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China’s investments, Africa’s forests: from raw deals to mutual gains?
19 June 2019The grand-scale Belt and Road Initiative is driving ever greater Chinese investment in Africa’s forests. But will the benefits of this ‘development’ reach local people? And will it be sustainable? A recent IIED project in Cameroon highlights both the potential and the pitfalls of surging investment.
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Time to turn the PAGE?
17 January 2019The Partnership for Action on Green Economy is an international alliance of UN agencies, partner organisations and governments working together for a transition to a green and sustainable economy. The alliance's third ministerial conference aimed to showcase innovation and experience, but IIED's Laura Kelly felt a key ingredient was missing
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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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Sustainable development and artisanal mining: time to broaden the ‘blood diamonds’ conversation?
3 December 2018Millions of people in some of the world’s poorest countries depend on diamond mining for a living. Yet a focus on dealing with so-called ‘blood diamonds’ stops a wider conversation about how to help these people thrive
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Women, wildlife and the workings of the CBD
20 November 2018Dilys Roe explains why international efforts to manage the world’s wildlife sustainably need input from the ground
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Incendiary observations from the 4th FLARE conference
22 October 2018Researchers into forest livelihoods recently met in Copenhagen to share ideas on how to support forests, sustainable forestry and forest peoples. Duncan Macqueen reports back on some of the highlights
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Crucial agreement with China could save Mozambique’s forests
14 August 2018Chinese companies can help Mozambique conserve country’s threatened forests, writes Duncan Macqueen