IIED is an international policy and research organisation working with partners globally to build a fairer, more sustainable world. Together, we challenge the destructive economic models, unjust power dynamics, entrenched mindsets, and protectionist laws that perpetuate poverty, suppress rights, and hinder progress towards a thriving world. We explore solutions to complex economic, social, and environmental crises, using research, action, and influence to tackle the root causes of climate change, nature loss, and inequality.

Our founder, Barbara Ward, was one of the first people to articulate the concept of sustainable development. We have now been applying original thinking to sustainable development issues – linking local priorities to global challenges – for more than 50 years.

In 1978, our ‘Banking on the Biosphere’ work sparked a revolution in the environmental performance of multilateral and bilateral agencies. Then in 1989 we helped to pave the way for the concept of a green economy by publishing ‘Blueprint for a Green Economy’. At the start of the century, we encouraged the formation of the Least Developed Countries Group of the UNFCCC. Since 2001 we have supported the group, which played a key role in the Paris Agreement, to fully and meaningfully engage in the UN negotiating process on behalf of those countries most vulnerable to climate change impacts.

A report from our 50th year in 2022 explored the evolution of sustainable development since the early 1970s, highlighting our role in 10 key movements for change, including the drives for global climate justice and an inclusive green economy.

IIED is working alongside urban residents and city governments, many of whom are already taking steps to reduce climate risks, to help strengthen their actions, share knowledge and integrate this risk reduction with other priorities. Our focus on climate action for equitable cities draws on more than 50 years of experience supporting partnerships and dialogues across local, national and global levels to mobilise action that responds to poverty and inequality in cities.

IIED works with partners to co-produce action research at a local level, with city authorities and organised communities leading together to influence global climate actors and spaces. Our work seeks to:

• Strengthen the evidence and recognition of the disproportionate impacts of climate change on low-income, informal urban communities. For example, we are currently undertaking research into the impacts of climate on health in vulnerable urban settlements. We are also piloting participatory heat data collection to help fill evidence gaps.
• Mobilise knowledge for impact and enable decision makers to effectively govern and resource equitable climate action in low-income, informal urban communities, including through the Transformative Urban Coalitions.
• Document and support interventions that connect climate action (adaptation and mitigation) with efforts to tackle urban poverty, inequality and injustice at scale, including via the Urban Climate Justice Hub and the Environment and Urbanization (E&U) journal.

Focuses of our work include:

• Climate-resilient upgrading: in-situ settlement upgrading programmes and policies should integrate climate resilience development, including green-blue infrastructure and nature-based solutions that absorb carbon, improve air quality, mitigate extreme heat and flooding, and increase wellbeing of residents.
• Spending climate funding (mitigation and adaptation) in informal settlements: climate funding streams and policies such as climate action plans should prioritise informal settlements as legitimate sites of climate action.

Leveraging participatory upgrading capacities for transformative climate action: community-led housing initiatives co-produced with local government, re-urbanisation and settlement upgrading strategies, and finance architecture such as urban poor funds or city upgrading funds, can catalyse climate action from pilot to city-wide scale.

Members can learn more about our work on the IIED website and the Urban Climate Justice Hub, where we are collating and synthesising data and research from across IIED and partners. We also post about new research or related information on the IIED Linkedin, researcher Linkedin accounts (Anna Walnycki) and IIED newsletters.

IIED works with partners to co-produce action research at a local level, with city authorities and organised communities leading together to influence global climate actors and spaces. We seek to foster equitable partnerships across actors. Members are welcome to reach out to myself and the team with specific requests or ideas.

IIED stays informed through:

• Our partnerships and ongoing action research with policymakers, practitioners and civil society organisations.
  • For example, IIED has a long history of working with Slum Dwellers International (SDI), supporting research and documentation of SDI’s work, amplifying SDI’s voice in international forums and policymaking, and contributing to initiatives such as the International Urban Poor Fund. IIED also co-convenes the SDI Climate Champions Group, a platform for sharing local and city-scale community-centric climate responses and financing mechanisms. Regular thematic exchanges within this network enhance capacity, strengthen replication pathways, and connect local action to global agendas. Through this combination of capacity sharing and social learning, the Network primes affiliates to prepare suites of fundable interventions when innovative financing mechanisms receive additional investments.
• Knowledge management activities, including our curation of the Urban climate justice hub, where we are collating and synthesising data on the impacts of climate change across cities, and promoting city-level climate actions that advance resilience and low-carbon development for all.
• Engagement in networks such as CCFLA
• Engagement in global policy forums, including recently:
  • An Urban Resilience Strategic Exchange at New York Climate Week, September 2025
  • Convening a ‘Drought in Displacement: humanitarian and city responses for water security’ session during World Water Week, August 2025
  • Contributions to the IPCC special report on climate change and cities second lead authors meeting in July 2025
  • Co-hosting the ‘Maximising the impact of investments: localising finance solutions for the transformation of informal settlements and slums’ side event at the 4^th International Conference on Financing for Development, July 2025
  • Hosting the ‘Co-creating the climate resilient city: stories from the frontlines’ event at London Climate Action Week, June 2025

We are excited to join the CCFLA network and come together with a diverse range of organisations all working to improve the delivery of urban climate finance to vulnerable urban settlements. We are looking forward to exchanges, learning from others, sharing experiences and collaborating with each other, especially around issues of urban informality and equitable access to climate finance.

We hope to:

• Co-design and host events in global policy forums with established and new partners.
• Participate in CCFLA’s member workshops, working group meetings and events.
• Share knowledge products, tools and experiences on strengthening climate finance and driving climate action for equitable cities.
• Bring a stronger focus on issues of equity and informality in cities in the majority world.