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Newsletter, January

Happy new year! In this newsletter we share a new podcast episode, recent news you might have missed and our latest blogs. Plus there are several jobs to apply for, including for our new executive director, closing tomorrow.

IIED at 50 – reflecting on the past, looking to the future

It's IIED's 50th birthday year, so for the first Make Change Happen podcast episode of 2022, we've invited two eminent former colleagues back to look at where IIED came from, how we have developed, and where we should be going.

Host Liz Carlile is joined by Achala Abeysinghe, Asia regional director and head of programmes for the Global Green Growth Institute and former principal researcher in IIED's Climate Change research group; and David Runnalls, a fellow with the International International Institute for Sustainable Development in Canada and former IIED vice-president. Together, they reflect on whether IIED’s ways of working are still relevant in helping to meet the complex challenges ahead and discuss what IIED needs to do to adapt.

Listen now!

Guest blog by Eva Peace Mukayiranga

Why COP26 was worth it

Rwandan environmentalist Eva Peace Mukayiranga describes challenges and highlights from the negotiating rooms in Glasgow and shares how she’ll be taking forward skills she learned to COP27.

Read the guest blog.

"COP26 wasn’t easy, the outcome wasn’t perfect – but it was worth it. As the climate crisis deepens, the hopes and demands for COP27 will be greater still."

– Eva Peace Mukayiranga

Cartoon graphic of a man holding a mobile phone.

Guest blog by Raashee Abhilashi and Ally Renton

Planning ahead: how the CRISP-M tool advances early climate action

A new digital tool combining scientific climate risk information with local and traditional knowledge is helping communities in India manage climate risks more effectively.

Read the blog.

A road in Nairobi, with people walking and a motorbike.

News

Film exploring the lives of urban refugees wins best documentary at Kenyan film festival

A hard-hitting film telling the stories of Nairobi’s urban refugees in their own words has won best documentary at the Eldoret Film Festival. Made by young Kenyans in an informal settlement, IIED premiered the film in September 2020, timed to coincide with the opening of the UN General Assembly.

Find out more and watch the film.

Saleemul Huq talks to an audience at the UN climate change conference (COP22) in Marrakech, Morocco in November 2016.

News

IIED's Saleemul Huq awarded OBE

IIED director Andrew Norton has hailed Saleemul Huq as a "tireless climate justice champion" after he was awarded an OBE by the Queen in the New Year's Honours List for his services to combating international climate change.

Read the news.

Woman in Indore cooking a meal with biomass fuel on a traditional chullah in an informal settlement.

Guest blog by Siddharth Agarwal and Kanupriya Kothiwal

Multiple housing and climate-related vulnerabilities of informal workers in Indore, India

While informal workers in Indore, India contend with multi-faceted vulnerabilities, recent research shows a gradual transition towards resilience. Guest bloggers Siddharth Agarwal and Kanupriya Kothiwal discuss the findings.

Read the guest blog.

Kaleta dam in Guinea, just prior to filling the reservoir.

News

New archive restores knowledge produced by the World Commission on Dams

An archive has been launched containing more than 200 documents produced by the World Commission on Dams, whose work culminated in a series of recommendations for best practices in dam planning, construction, operation and decommissioning.

Find out more.

Cartoon faces of the narrators of our loss and damage animations.

News

Loss and damage animation chosen for Charity Film Award – and we need your vote!

The IIED animation ‘Untold stories of climate change loss and damage in the LDCs: Solomon Islands’ has been nominated for the Charity Film Awards. Public voting closes on 23 January and we are asking for your help to get this important short film into the next round of competition.

Watch the animation and vote now.

Local worker assessing the impact of climage change in Namatakula Village, Fiji.

Q&A with Anna Carthy and Clara Gallagher

IIED at 50: making IIED future fit

Two new IIED researchers talk about today’s most pressing environment and development issues, future challenges, and how IIED’s ways of working need to evolve to ensure we’re fit for the future.

Read the interview.

Work for us

Current vacancies

We're currently recruiting for several roles across the organisation:

Executive director: apply by 12 January
Researcher - economist for inclusive blue & green economy: apply by 16 January
Managing editor: apply by 16 January
Senior coordinator / project manager: apply by 26 January
Principal / senior researcher - climate finance: apply by 26 January.

Issue paper, 18 pages

Gender concerns in debt relief

In the past, the lack of a gender perspective in designing policy conditionalities in debt relief has undermined the outcomes of relief for those most negatively impacted. Policy conditionalities associated with debt relief have rarely shown an understanding of gender dynamics, not recognising the different ways that women and men interact with the economy. This paper explores how recognising these differences, especially in relation to the roles and responsibilities of women, can be a first step to ensure more just and equitable policy outcomes.

Download the issue paper.

Briefing

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

This briefing sets out seven steps Least Developed Countries can take to design debt instruments to support climate and nature. LDCs can complement this national action by advocating collectively for engagement from their creditors to achieve better outcomes.

Download the briefing.