Policy and planning blogs
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The UK’s backward step on global development
17 June 2020The UK government’s decision to merge DFID with the Foreign Office is a clear sign that tackling poverty in developing countries is no longer a priority. But there is still time to show that its interests benefit from working internationally in partnership to tackle inequality, fragility, climate and nature loss
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Cities’ development trajectories
16 June 2020David Satterthwaite examines the factors driving the development of cities
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How to get the most out of dialogue
3 June 2020A new IIED-commissioned review seeks to deepen understanding of what makes effective dialogue and why
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Facing a COVID-19 future: listening and learning to inform the ‘new normal’
28 May 2020Like many organisations, IIED has spent the last few weeks thinking about how COVID-19 will have an impact on its work in the short and longer term. Here, we reflect on some key issues
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Internal and international influences on urban change
27 May 2020David Satterthwaite takes a closer look at drivers and influences of urban change
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COVID-19 in Guayaquil: from global notoriety to family responses
20 May 2020From the virus-ravaged Ecuadorian city come personal accounts of struggles to survive
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Business with purpose in the era of COVID-19
18 May 2020The coronavirus pandemic has delivered a profound shock to the world economy. IIED's Laura Kelly argues that businesses must commit to more responsible and inclusive practices as part of their efforts to build recovery
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Karachi, informal settlements and COVID-19
6 May 2020How our Karachi's informal settlements managing the COVID-19 lockdown and how can existing government structures support the city’s settlements during the COVID-19 recovery, and beyond
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What drives the world’s changing urban geographies?
23 April 2020David Satterthwaite discusses how evolving economies and new technologies have changed the shape of urban centres
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Is SDG evaluation just business as usual?
21 April 2020Stefano D'Errico outlines four steps that should be considered in the design of an effective evaluative process for the Sustainable Development Goals
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Developing a vision for The Gambia’s future
20 April 2020The Paris Agreement invites all countries to submit mid-century low-carbon, climate-resilient development strategies by 2020. Gabrielle Swaby chronicles The Gambia’s progress towards fulfilling this commitment
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An urbanising world
9 April 2020David Satterthwaite examines global trends in the size, growth and distribution of the world’s urban population. He also considers climate change and COVID-19
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The world’s fastest growing cities
24 March 2020Which factors determine whether a city makes it onto the list of the world’s fastest growing cities? In the latest in a series focusing on the transition to a predominantly urban world, David Satterthwaite takes a closer look
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Coronavirus and climate change are two crises that need humanity to unite
13 March 2020IIED director Andrew Norton looks at some of the emerging impacts of the coronavirus outbreak, and discusses the possible longer-term effects of the pandemic
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Alternative data sources for cities and communities
12 March 2020In the latest in our series of blogs and interviews focusing on the transition to a predominantly urban world, David Satterthwaite looks at community-driven data collection and mapping
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Is Davos signalling the end of business as usual?
21 January 2020As world leaders in politics and business gather in Davos, IIED director Andrew Norton considers progress on the event’s ‘business with purpose’ agenda and asks how a progressive sustainability manifesto can omit climate change
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Climate action: let’s be bold in Bonn
14 June 2019As the UN climate change conference kicks off in Bonn on Monday (17 June), Subhi Barakat calls for negotiators to be bolder and braver with an emphasis on action
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Making Indian cities inclusive means making them more walkable
5 June 2019Walking, cycling and using public transport are the main ways of getting around Indian cities. But as India's cities expand and car ownership increases, pedestrians are being marginalised – and their safety is being put at risk
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To stay ahead of climate change, cities need to act now
4 June 2019How can cities in low- and middle-income countries address climate change risks? IIED's David Satterthwaite looks at the challenges facing city governments across the world
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Leading on nature: can the new Secretary of State deliver bold action on environment and poverty?
31 May 2019The UK's new Secretary of State for International Development has impressed with a strong public statement on the need to focus aid funding on climate and environmental challenges. IIED welcomes his commitment, and suggests an agenda for action
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2019 – the way forward is a Green Decent Work Guarantee
30 December 2018How can the world achieve a step change in the fight against climate change during 2019? IIED director Andrew Norton looks at the issues and suggests that a radical approach may hold the solution
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Celebrating 10 years of the UK Climate Change Act: an influential law beyond its borders
26 November 2018IIED director Andrew Norton says the UK's Climate Change Act provides a clear and ambitious framework for addressing climate change, and says it can be a model for other nations for turning the Paris Agreement into national action
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Momentum builds for ambitious agreements at COP24
19 November 2018When COP24 starts next month, the least developed countries will again be in the spotlight. In a special guest blog, LDC Group chair Gebru Jember Endalew outlines the group's hopes for Katowice
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Biodiversity on the brink: local people must shape nature’s new deal
16 November 2018Ahead of the Convention on Biological Diversity on Saturday, which will start shaping the post-2020 agenda on biodiversity, IIED director Andrew Norton calls for a process that truly includes indigenous peoples and local communities
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Addressing the political and technical challenges of measuring adaptation
18 September 2018Susannah Fisher outlines the challenges that need to be addressed in order to effectively measure progress on adaptation as part of the first global stocktake in 2023