On the opening day of the World Bank’s 2024 Land Conference, organizations of small-scale food producers, Indigenous Peoples, workers, grassroots communities, and civil society denounce the World Bank as a major actor of land grabbing and ecosystem destruction. They call for effective measures to realize the right to land and territories, including agrarian reform.

For over two decades, the World Bank Land Conference has been an important and necessary forum for the land sector, bringing together participants from governments, development partners, civil society, academia, and the private sector to showcase research, discuss issues and good practice, and inform policy dialogue. The Conference encourages cross-sectoral knowledge exchange and this year, the Land Portal team is eager to attend the relaunched Land Conference from May 13-17, 2024 in Washington, DC.

De 8,6 millones de hectáreas vendidas entre 2000 y 2019 en Uruguay, más de 6 millones fueron, por vía de la excepción, a sociedades anónimas, en su mayoría extranjeras

The 15th cycle of the Equator Initiative aims to identify innovative approaches and solutions led by Indigenous Peoples and local communities in three categories. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) led Equator Initiative releases a global call for nominations for the Equator Prize 2024. The nominations are open through 26 February 2024. 

In the run up to COP28, the Land Portal Foundation has published a completely revised and updated Indigenous and Communities Land Rights thematic portfolio. While world leaders attending COP28 have recognized the important role of indigenous communities in the fight against climate change, most governments have failed to live up to their commitments.

Control of Africa’s forests must not be sold to carbon offset companies (commentary)

On 29 September, Zimbabwe granted a UAE-based firm conservation rights over 7.5 million hectares of its forests – about 20% of the country’s landmass. Under the deal, touted to be worth $1.5 billion, Blue Carbon General Trading will run forest preservation projects that will generate carbon credits to be sold on the global market.

Dhaka Declaration: Mainstreaming land rights in the narrative of climate change

In communities’ visions of a secure future, good governance, transparency, and respect for customary rights matter more than a piece of paper

Sometimes at high-level international events, like the Africa Climate Summit held in early September 2023, we do not have the opportunity to, or forget to, include the voices of people who are going through the very issues discussed.

The EU Deforestation Regulation enters into force today. This law prohibits the placing on the European market of cattle, cocoa, coffee, oil palm, rubber, soy and wood that is linked to deforestation.

The rural poor who have weak or no land tenure rights are among the most vulnerable to the direct effects of climate change, both because insecure land tenure reduces the incentives and capacities to take good care of the land to mitigate /adapt to the effects of climate change, and because without secure tenure rights, disasters can easily lead to land loss and migration, also through document loss and land grabbing.