International Institute for Environment and Development

International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) is one of the world’s most influential international development and environment policy research organisations. Founded in 1971 by economist Barbara Ward, who forged the concept and cause of sustainable development, we work with partners on five continents. We build bridges between policy and practice, rich and poor communities, the government and private sector, and across diverse interest groups. We contribute to many international policy processes and frameworks, including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and the UN conventions on climate change and biological diversity.

IIED carries out research, advice and advocacy work. We carry out action research — generating robust evidence and know-how that is informed by a practical perspective acquired through hands-on research with grassroots partners — and we publish in journals and maintain high research standards. We advise government, business and development agencies, and we argue for changes in public policy. We focus on bottom-up solutions, stay open to flexible, adaptable solutions and are marked by a tradition of challenging conventional wisdom through original thinking.

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Team members

Oliver Greenfield

Oliver is convenor of the Green Economy Coalition, a network and a platform for action on green, fair and inclusive economies. Prior to this role, Oliver led WWF’s Sustainable Business and Economics work, where he pioneered systemic stakeholder change programmes: One Planet Business, One Planet Finance and One Planet Economy. Before WWF, Oliver managed change in the public sector and in industry, as the senior strategist for the BBC World Service and as a business strategy consultant for Booz Company.  He has degrees in engineering and business and has worked with many organisations and cultures for social, environmental and economic value.