The paper attempts a stock taking of urbanization in the post colonial period in India and critically examines the scenarios projected by international and national agencies.

Could the informal economy be the route to deliver the big sustainable development ideals such as the Green Economy, Millennium Development Goals and Poverty Reduction Strategies, given that its share is rapidly increasing and that the poor mostly operate here?

In ten forest hotspot countries across Africa and South Asia, the IIED-steered Forest Governance Learning Group (FGLG) has been working since 2003 on ways to shift power over forests towards those who enable and pursue sustainable forest-linked livelihoods. This report aims to capture the current thinking and plans of FGLG.

As governments in the global North look to diversify their economies away from fossil fuel and mitigate climate change, plans for biomass energy are growing fast. These are fuelling a sharp rise in the demand for wood, which, for some countries, could outstrip domestic supply capacity by as much as 600 per cent.

The Argentine government’s PERMER (Project for Renewable Energy in Rural Markets) programme, introduced in 1999, provides electricity for basic lighting and social communication needs for families and public services in remote, rural areas, which are beyond the reach of the grid.

How can investors be encouraged to consider more than purely commercial and short-term gains? Various sets of investment principles have emerged in recent years.

High prices and concerns about energy security in the oil and gas industry are driving expansion into ever more sensitive environments with greater technological, political and social risks. While brands such as BP, Shell and ExxonMobil are well known, some 70 per cent of oil and gas industry activities are typically contracted out to service providers and their subcontractors.

Developed countries have pledged billions of dollars a year to help poor nations adapt to climate change. But how should the money be spent? For the world’s poor, who are both the most vulnerable to climate change and the most in need of social protection, the best answer may be cash transfer programmes.

This paper assesses the practical contribution of the Gold Standard (GS) and Climate Community and Biodiversity (CCB) Standards to local development through the identification of high quality carbon offset projects and ensuring high standards of consultation with local communities during project development and implementation.

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