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In this episode, IIED senior researcher Deena Dajani talks to Ayah Hammad from UN-Habitat in Jordan, Gilbert Siame from the University of Zambia and Melanie Chirwa from the People’s Process for Housing and Poverty in Zambia about how drought affects people living in cities, particularly those in informal and low-income settlements.

In this episode, IIED senior researcher Camila Cocina, Lorena Zarate from the Global Platform for the Right to the City and Joseph Kimani of Slum Dwellers International Kenya talk about the reasons for the rise in forced evictions and the ensuing consequences for people and communities.

In this episode, IIED principal researcher Anna Schulz and Green Economy Coalition convenor Carina Bachofen discuss the impact of a rapidly changing multilateral system on climate ambition. With the help of their guests, they consider alternatives to global forums for bringing about change.

The focus is on food systems. The world is missing targets for addressing hunger and malnutrition while food systems contribute to nature loss and climate change. So how can sustainable food systems tackle those issues and also provide jobs, support economies and reduce poverty?

In this episode, IIED executive director Tom Mitchell discusses revitalising a commitment to international development and in the process, getting money to where it is needed most and can be used to best effect – to the local level.

In this episode, principal researcher Ebony Holland talks to Simon Cullen about the importance of nature finance and the need for changes in practice to make sure money for nature resilience gets to Indigenous Peoples and local communities.

In this episode, IIED researcher Francesca Booker and Ritchel Cahilig from the Haribon Foundation talk about the critical role local leadership plays not only in restoring nature itself but also in conserving local culture, identity and communities too.

In this episode, IIED’s senior researcher Karen Wong-Pérez talks to IIED’s senior press and PR manager, Simon Cullen, about global progress towards gender justice and why the journey towards gender-just environmental action isn’t moving quickly enough.

In this episode, IIED’s climate diplomacy researcher Camilla More and senior climate finance researcher Sejal Patel discuss why so many countries missed the recent deadline for submitting their 2035 climate targets – and the implications for global climate action.

Our latest episode revisits the key themes covered on Make Change Happen during 2025, including critical minerals, climate action and reform of the international financial architecture. As well as reflecting on the progress made, our hosts – IIED’s Simon Cullen and Lindlyn Moma – highlight the big opportunities for global action in 2025, discussing what it will take to see change in the nature, climate and inequality crises.

There is a critical need to reform the international financial architecture (IFA) – the framework of institutions, policies, rules and practices that govern the global financial system. In the episode, IIED’s Laura Kelly and Mohsen Gul set the scene by explaining why the IFA needs to be fit for purpose and work for everyone, including the least developed countries (LDCs), and why discussions around IFA reforms must include the voices of lower-income countries, LDCs and Small Island Developing States (SIDS). IIED’s chief economist Paul Steele then outlines three priorities for reform of the IFA. We also hear from IIED’s Ritu Bharadwaj who discusses the Global SIDS Debt Sustainability Support Service, co-designed by IIED to alleviate crippling levels of debt and build economic resilience, and IIED partner Isatou Camara, who calls for faster and more accessible funding to reach the most vulnerable countries.

IIED has launched a 'Manifesto for a thriving world’ and the need for new responses to a range of compounding crises, greater uncertainty and growing injustice. In this episode, the chair of IIED's board of trustees Tara Shine and trustee John Taylor discuss the intitute's plans for the future and changing ways of working. Tom Mitchell, IIED's executive director, stresses the importance of IIED being outward looking and being grounded in evidence and including the knowledge and voices of Indigenous Peoples and local communities. And Crissy Guerrero of the Non-Timber Forest Products Exchange Programme in Asia gives a practical example, outlining a certification scheme designed by forest producers to replace a system created by external parties for designating what can be labelled as organic.

Critical minerals – such as cobalt, lithium and copper – are in the headlines, attracting global attention for their potential in supporting the green energy pathway and accelerating the shift away from fossil fuels. They make green technologies including electric vehicles, solar panels and wind turbines possible. The opportunities are huge and demand is booming. But this doesn't come without issues. If not managed well, extraction can have negative impacts on communities, ecosystems and local economies. This episode is a conversation between IIED senior researcher Eric Bisil and executive director of Africa Resources Watch (Afrewatch) Emmanuel Umpula. They discuss the potential of critical minerals in speeding up the fossil fuel phase-out, and how they can support the productivity and economic growth of countries that are rich in these minerals. Other contributors include Ketakandriana Rafitoson, executive director of Publish What You Pay, IIED senior researcher Rose Mosi and IIED’s head of energy Ben Garside.

Despite global efforts to tackle the impacts of climate change, we are failing to achieve critical climate objectives. IIED’s Hidden Handbrake campaign aims to reveal and explain the bureaucratic, political, legal and practical barriers to countries taking effective action in response to climate change. Progress on mitigation and adaptation measures and anticipatory actions to reduce the potential of loss and damage is drastically slowed where these barriers exist. They must be brought out into the open, challenged and removed. This episode is a conversation between Tom Mitchell, executive director of IIED, and Sejal Patel, a senior researcher in IIED focusing on climate finance and climate-resilient development. The episode also has vital contributions from three climate and environment specialists: Megan Rowling and David Shukman, both highly regarded journalists, and Achala Abeysinghe, regional director and head of programmes at the Global Green Growth Institute. Read more: https://www.iied.org/hidden-handbrakes-whats-holding-back-climate-action

This special guest episode, produced by the Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS) looks at the work of a social network in Delhi that delivered food relief during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Delhi Coordinated Relief Network succeeded in reaching some of the most vulnerable neighbourhoods in the city during an unprecedented crisis. This episode of Make Change Happen is hosted by Rashee Mehra of the Indian Institute for Human Settlements, with guests Juhi Jain, deputy director of the Centre for Advocacy and Research and Dr Gautam Bhan, the associate dean of the School of Human Development at IIHS.