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Newsletter, June

Register for an upcoming webinar, listen to a new podcast, read a guest blog on COVID-19 response in India, and download the new briefings from the Sentinel project.

COVID-19 pandemic relief services in Chandpur, Bangladesh (Photo: Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission Belur Math, via Flickr, public domain)

Online event

Climate, COVID-19, and the collaboration we need

The COVID-19 pandemic has demanded an unprecedented global response. With every nation experiencing the social and economic shock comes the stark realisation that we must adopt new and better ways to deal with global crises, including the climate emergency.

Join us for a webinar on Friday 19 June with IIED's Andrew Norton, Saleemul Huq, director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD), and Fatima Denton, director of the Institute for Natural Resources in Africa at the United Nations University, Ghana to discuss what kind of collaboration and action is needed.

Find out more and register now

Participants discuss how to make artisanal and small-scale mining more sustainable at an IIED dialogue in Tanzania (Photo: Steve Aanu/IIED via Flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0)

Guest blog by Bernardo Monzani and Alix Wadeson

How to get the most out of dialogue

We commissioned an evaluative review to deepen our understanding of the impact of dialogue-based initiatives and to contribute to the wider evidence base on what makes effective dialogue and why.

Read the guest blog for more info

"Dialogue can have a truly transformational effect, helping support communities, leaders and policymakers to ‘build back better’ for a more equal society."

Volunteers delivering food to families affected by Cyclone Amphan in West Bengal. (Photo: Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission via Flickr, public domain)

People, Planet and Public Finance podcast

Improving climate budgeting during COVID-19

The latest episode of the People, Planet and Public Finance podcast was recorded shortly after Cyclone Amphan hit Bangladesh and India. The storm, and the damage it caused, showed the vital importance of budgeting for climate risks – even as countries confront the coronavirus pandemic.

In the podcast, Farah Kabir, country director of ActionAid Bangladesh (AAB), and Saleemul Huq of ICCCAD talk about their work to coordinate civil society in Bangladesh to engage with the government on climate-related budget choices.

Listen now

Sentinel policy briefings

Food and forests: understanding agriculture and conservation trade-offs in Zambia

Sentinel is an interdisciplinary research project seeking to address the challenge of achieving ‘zero hunger’ in sub-Saharan Africa, while at the same time reducing inequalities and conserving ecosystems.

Policymakers need to better understand and manage the major trade-offs — existing and future — between two competing objectives: increasing agricultural production to meet growing domestic food demand and conserving nature. This briefing explores this issue within the national context in Zambia, and makes suggestions for the way forward.

You can also find Food and forests: understanding agriculture and conservation trade-offs in Ghana and Food and forests: understanding agriculture and conservation trade-offs in Ethiopia on the Sentinel website.

The Odisha state government has distributed land titles to slum dwellers in the temple city of Puri (Photo: Aleksandr Zykov via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0)

Guest blog by Antarin Chakrabarty

COVID-19, JAGA Mission and the value of already existing solutions

Urban planner Antarin Chakrabarty reflects on one Indian state’s successful programme to provide work and incomes to migrants, enabling a rapid and efficient government response when crises such as COVID-19 hit.

Read the blog