IIED conducted an independent consultation on the World Bank

This paper presents a brief overview of pastoral systems, analyses the rationale behind mobility as a strategy to cope with scarce and variable resource endowment, and finally addresses the rights concerning the access to and the control of resources in the context of climate change.

Climate change is often seen as a global problem demanding global solutions. But for poor people hit hard by the impacts, climate change is a not a boardroom abstraction, but day-to-day reality. Faced with local shifts in weather patterns and natural resources, they are forced to find ways of coping that are locally relevant. This kind of experience, gained at the grassroots, boosts resilience as no top-down initiative can. Three case studies from rural communities in Benin, Kenya and Malawi show how it is done.

The last few decades have witnessed a sweeping change in the food production scenario of South Asia. India, the largest of the South Asian economies, is now largely self-sufficient in foodgrain and is an emerging exporter.

This report explores industrial demand to distinguish and promote sustainable and fair community forest products in the market. Its ultimate goal is poverty reduction - or more specifically

This study is a first attempt to provide some economic indicators of how climate change will affect Namibia

A global carbon market has evolved in the wake of negotiations for the United Nations Kyoto Protocol. A number of distinct markets are encompassed within its remit, including a voluntary retail arm. Although the voluntary retail market is very small in comparison to other segments, it has large growth potential as it can extend to countries, customer groups and technologies not embraced by the existing compliance regime.

This analysis provides us greater insight into an adaptation-led strategy to reduce climate change risk and increasing urban resilience in keeping with India’s development and priorities challenges. This attempts shifts the emphasis away from a largely mitigation and techo-centric response that has come to dominate the climate crisis discourse emanating largely from OECD countries. This may provide a window of opportunity for countries like India to chart a more independent traverse to a more sustainable future.

This report shares field experience and lessons in developing incentive-based mechanisms for watershed protection services and improved livelihoods at micro- and macro-scales at three locations in Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. The process, progress and problems in the three sites, and the initial findings, are presented. Key lessons are discussed and specific recommendations made.

This paper examines urban health in low- and middle-income countries, in relation to two sets of environmental issues: persistent local environmental health burdens, and most notably the water, sanitation and housing deficiencies prevalent in the poor neighbourhoods of so many urban settlements; and emerging global environmental burdens that will be experienced in urban areas, and most notably those associated with climate change.