The wave of formalization of indigenous and Community land rights has been witnessed across many African countries. This could partly be in response to the Africa Union declaration on land issues and challenges in Africa. Under the declaration, member states are urged to review their land sectors, with a view to develop comprehensive policies, which take into account peculiar needs.

Climate change affects everyone. Yet it hits the poor hardest, especially women and children, and those without rights to land.

Landlessness and the lack of secure land tenure amplify the vulnerability of rural poor communities to the impacts of climate change. Yet, the challenges surrounding their lack of land access and insecure tenure rights are often overlooked in climate change discussions, policy-making, and program implementation.

The policy brief, one of four briefs on the agrarian transition in the Mekong region, explores initiatives and pathways forward to recognise customary tenure arrangements and rights over forest areas in the region. More than 70 million people in the region depend on forest areas but lack formal legal rights to use, manage, and benefit from them. Forest landscapes represent just under half of the region’s total land. Yet, over the past two decades, the region has lost a significant amount of forest due to the expansion of commercial agriculture.

Este informe examina cómo las políticas de gestión de riesgos ambientales y sociales (ESRM, por sus siglas en inglés) de los principales bancos que financian la extracción de petróleo y gas en la Amazonía no abordan plenamente los impactos adversos de su financiamiento en las personas y la naturaleza. Durante los últimos 20 años, solamente seis bancos: Citibank, JP Morgan Chase, Itaú Unibanco, Santander, Bank of America y HSBC son responsables de casi la mitad (46%) de todo el financiamiento directo para las operaciones de petróleo y gas en la Amazonía.