International Institute for Environment and Development

Description

The International Institute for Environment and Development, IIED, is an independent policy and action research organisation working to build a fairer, more sustainable world.

It generates evidence, takes action and builds influence in partnership with others, working mainly in the global South and linking local priorities to global challenges. Its research covers natural resources, climate change, human settlements and sustainable markets, and it works with more than 350 partners in over 60 countries. It publishes reports, working papers, books and policy briefs, and has helped shape international agendas such as the Rio Earth Summit, the Least Developed Countries Group at UN climate talks, and the concept of a green economy.

IIED traces its origins to the International Institute for Environmental Affairs, founded in New York in 1971. Barbara Ward became its first director in 1973, moved it to London and renamed it IIED, integrating development alongside an environmental agenda; she is credited as one of the first people to articulate the concept of sustainable development. The organisation is based in London with an office in Edinburgh, and in 2021 a related foundation, IIED Europe, was created in Amsterdam to focus on global environmental and social change.