Saleemul Huq memorial scholarship and award for loss and damage research

In memory of Saleemul Huq, a new scholarship and award for researchers from least developed countries, Small Island Developing States and other developing countries has been launched along with other calls to further work on practical solutions for loss and damage caused by climate change.

The Loss and Damage Research Observatory , a pioneering initiative created by the Alliance for Locally Led Approaches for Transformative Action on Loss and Damage (ALL ACT) and spearheaded by International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD) and IIED, is behind the calls.

The observatory is now seeking applications for the scholarship scheme, as well as mentors and members of a research steering committee to help continue work to find practical solutions for loss and damage caused by climate change. Find out more and please share widely .

News and insights

Debt swaps could release $100 billion for climate action

‘Debt for climate and nature swaps’ are an important but underused tool for addressing three major problems facing less-wealthy nations: crippling debt, the impacts of climate change, and biodiversity loss. We're calling on the World Bank, IMF and G20 to promote debt swaps as an important tool for tackling the debt crisis in those countries most at risk from climate change. Read the press release . ?

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Reflections on a journey of rethinking capacity building

Capacity building initiatives within the international development sector come with Northern biases. May Thazin Aung describes how IIED aimed to reframe our thinking about capacity building by learning from a grassroots social movement in the Philippines. Find out more . ?

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How smallholder farmers are scaling up local ecosystem-based climate adaptation solutions

As we capture and scale up the productive ways in which forest and farm producers in northern Viet Nam are adapting to climate change, IIED and partners call on authorities and organisations that support smallholder producers to match smallholders’ investments and help scale up their solutions.?Read the insight by?Kata Wagner . ?

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CBA18 starting soon

Last chance to register for?the 18th International Conference on Community-Based Adaptation to Climate Change (CBA18) ?from 6-9 May 2024! The?CBA18 agenda is packed with different types of sessions and lots of opportunity to connect with others,?share experiences and knowledge. Join us in Arusha, Tanzania – register now ! ?

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Is China’s rate of urbanisation too fast or too slow?

Is China urbanising at an appropriate pace? This question has returned to policy debates repeatedly since the 1980s, with conflicting views aired throughout that time. Professor Bingqin Li discusses . ?

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Climate action for equitable cities: working with informal communities to develop low carbon, resilient futures

IIED is working with partners to collect and synthesise data on the impacts of climate change across cities and to promote city-level climate actions that advance resilience and low carbon development for all. Find out more . ?

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Energy transition, community fragmentation and territorial justice: an interview with Sonia Ramos

Renowned Chilean activist Sonia Ramos talks about the extraction of lithium from the unique ecosystem of the Atacama Salt Flat. Ramos stresses the deep changes mining is bringing to the territory and the Indigenous ‘cosmovision’ which interconnects nature, people and the elements. Read the interview .? Professor?Nicolás M. Perrone also reflected on the global narrative about the low-carbon energy transition. Read?A just energy transition needs more than benefit-sharing: a view from the Atacama Salt Flat .

New publications

Towards housing justice: four propositions to transform policy and practice

The current global housing crisis is sustained by housing systems that do not respond to the reality of the world’s majority. This paper discusses how addressing this crisis through a ‘housing justice’ lens can open up areas of intervention and transformation for policy and practice that can contest unfair and unsustainable housing systems.?It presents four propositions for a justice lens:?

• Anti-discriminatory housing policy and practice
• Radically democratic forms of housing production
• Housing as an infrastructure for better cities, and?
• Expanded visions for housing futures.?

Download the issue paper . ?

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Environment and Urbanization: ‘Connecting decarbonization and social justice in cities’

The latest issue of Environment and Urbanization, guest edited by IIED's Anna Walnycki and Tucker Landesman, seeks to expand understanding of how climate change mitigation policies and practices can align with the imperative to secure social justice in cities and to support the agendas of urban social movements.?This special issue has several open access articles and builds on work from the Transformative Urban Coalitions (TUC) project, which supports cities to find joint solutions to become more green, inclusive and sustainable. Read it now . ?

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Inclusive urban solutions: city actors engaging with displaced communities

Most of the world’s displaced people live in cities, yet there is little evidence on how to build lasting partnerships with city governments to support urban displaced communities.?The Protracted Displacement in an Urban World (PDUW) project explored participatory planning and decision-making processes, bringing together city governments and representatives of displaced communities in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Jordan and Kenya.?This briefing presents the key lessons learned from the project to inform city-led, multi-stakeholder responses to urban displacement. Download the briefing .