This month, longreads on urban humanitarian crises and Madagascar small-scale sapphire mining, an update from the China-Africa Forest Governance Learning Platform and more.

November 2017

The future of humanitarian crises is urban

With more than 50 per cent of the world’s population living in urban areas, many lives are at stake when a humanitarian crisis strikes. Humanitarian actors consist not only of the international agencies typically associated with emergencies, but also those directly affected: local governments, local communities, local businesses. Any humanitarian intervention that fails to directly engage these actors risks creating further problems down the line when the crisis response is over.

In a new longread we have collected evidence generated from the Urban Crises Learning Fund, which has helped to foster new ways of working in order to increase urban and humanitarian stakeholders’ knowledge, technical capacity, and commitment to working in partnership.

News and blogs

Sustainable investment in African forest resources highlighted at China-Africa event

At a recent meeting in Mozambique, Chinese and African stakeholders discussed how to protect Africa's forest resources and ensure that Chinese investment generates benefits for local African economies.

If you go down to the woods today, you're sure of a big surprise…

At Bwindi Impenetrable National Park you'll see gorillas in the wild, but local communities don't see much from the tourist trade. Dilys Roe describes a project that is helping local people to develop products and activities that will attract visitors – and much-needed income.

Spotlight on... Sapphire mines that become forests

In the third and final instalment in the 'stories of change' series on artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM), we explore how poor communities in the south of Madagascar are taking steps to fight environmental degradation and loss.

Find out how with shovels in hand, they are restoring land abandoned by artisanal miners – and finding new vocations and talents in the process.

New publications this month

Investing in the decentralised renewable energy sector sector presents significant challenges. Financial aggregation - innovative ways of bundling together energy opportunities to lower transaction costs, risks, and the cost of capital - is emerging.

Turning up the volume: financial aggregation for off-grid energy explores the benefits and challenges of aggregation through five case studies, highlighting lessons learned as well as the need for further experimentation in this growing sector.

Extreme weather events including drought in 2003-04; the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004; floods in 2015; and a cyclone in 2016 have caused dramatic loss of life and livelihoods, injury and damaged property across Tamil Nadu and its capital city of Chennai - mobilising humanitarian action from a range of actors. Long-term implications of humanitarian responses: the case of Chennai examines how humanitarian responses and post-disaster relocations fit into the wider development vision of large and fast-growing metropolises such as Chennai.

In the UNFCCC process, Least Developed Countries (LDC) have obligations to deliver alongside all other Parties. Taking into account their specific needs and special situations, provisions for support have been adopted for LDCs to help them undertake these commitments.

Provisions for support to LDCs: facilitating the implementation of the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement is a collection of short briefs on the ways LDC Parties engage in the UNFCCC process and which provisions adopted to date help them undertake their work.

Briefings

Ecosystem-based adaptation: the key to reducing climate risk in Uganda

Going local: fast tracking climate finance to the most vulnerable

Making Lebanon’s water flow: delivering better basic urban services

Thinking bigger: area-based and urban planning approaches to humanitarian crises

Action, ambition, investment: what success at COP23 looks like for LDCs

Delivering Money Where it Matters: effective climate action through predictable local climate finance

IIED worked with Dutch NGO Both ENDS to put on an official side event at this year's UNFCCC COP23 in Bonn, Germany. The panel comprised of leaders from the county, state, national and international level discussed the challenges and mechanisms in facilitating climate finance to community level.

We've gathered the key messages from the event in Storify.

Job vacancies

Researcher - Closing soon!

We are recruiting for a researcher to support the ocean and fisheries economics research programme, which looks at the use of innovative economic solutions to address the problems facing the fisheries sector and to support healthy marine and coastal ecosystems and resilient communities.

Closing date: 24 November 2017

Energy access consultant

IIED's energy team is looking for an energy access consultant to work with us on a range of exciting research and on-the-ground projects. The work has a particular focus on financing decentralised energy, productive uses of energy and East Africa.

Closing date: 5pm (GMT), 28 November 2017

Senior researcher

We are recruiting a senior researcher to support the ocean and fisheries economics research programme which looks at the use of innovative economic solutions to address the problems facing the fisheries sector and to support healthy marine and coastal ecosystems and resilient communities.

Closing date: 9am (GMT), 5 December 2017

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