This working paper was commissioned by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), in order to explore how land tenure systems in different ecosystems and bio-cultural regions around the world are linked to land degradation or sustainable land management. It is against this backdrop that five major issues surrounding land tenure, and rights for improved land management and sustainable development, are addressed; these are:

• Problems associated with land ownership (titling, tenure and customary rights);

The document details the agreements of the Expert Group meeting on a set of defined questions that need to be asked in order to properly measure 1.4.2.  

This publication features the key provisions on land (governance) in recent relevant international frameworks including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (SDGs), the New Urban Agenda (Habitat III), the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (VGGT), the Framework and Guidelines on Land Policy in Africa (F&G) and the Guiding Principles on Large- Scale Land-Based Investment in Africa (LSLBI Principles).

This Expert Group Meeting (EGM1 ) was convened with the purpose of examining land indicators in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and promoting meaningful and harmonised approaches to monitoring women’s land rights (WLR)2 . It was convened by the Global Land Indicators Initiative (GLII) of the GLTN, UN Habitat, and Oxfam with inputs and assistance from Landesa, UN Women and Huairou Commission as part of a process of work on the development of methodologies for the land related SDG indicator monitoring.

In Mozambique there is strong support for sustainable agriculture from different actors, with approaches including agroforestry and conservation agriculture increasingly promoted throughout the country by the
Ministry of Agriculture, civil society, farmers’ groups and development agencies. Research trials and anecdotal evidence suggest that these practices increase yields, are more resilient and are economically accessible for small-scale farmers. Despite this, uptake among smallholders remains low.

As market reforms to the Mongolian economy continue and the country enjoys rapid economic growth, the environment has entered a period of unprecedented pressure. Mining, infrastructure development and tourism development, in particular, are undergoing rapid expansion, and all pose risks to Mongolia's globally important biodiversity.

Increasing energy demands and concerns about global warming call for an increase in energy generation from renewable sources. Small hydropower plants represent a significant contribution to meet this demand. But the optimal use of this resource in a sustainable manner still remains a challenge. A cascade of small dams may have detrimental impacts on the environment and water use without implementation of proper mitigation measures and planning.

This report seeks to present micro evidence on how environmental changes affect poor households. It focuses primarily on environmental resources that are outside the private sphere, particularly commonly held and managed resources such as forests, fisheries, and wildlife. The objectives for this volume are three-fold. It is first interested in using an empirical data-driven approach to examine the dependence of the poor on natural resources. The second objective is to examine the role of the environment in determining health outcomes.

The main objective of the Country Environmental Analysis (CEA) in Nepal is to identify opportunities for enhancing the overall performance of select environmental management systems through improvements in the effectiveness of institutions, policies, and processes.

Climate change presents a profound challenge to food security and development. Negative impacts from climate change are likely to be greatest in regions that are currently food insecure and may even be significant in those regions that have made large gains in reducing food insecurity over the past half-century. Adaptation in the agricultural sector is being given a high priority within this effort because of the inherent sensitivity of food production to climate and the strong inter-linkages that exist between climate, agriculture, and economic growth and development.

The Country Environmental Analysis (CEA) for Timor-Leste identifies environmental priorities through a systematic review of environmental issues in natural resources management and environmental health in the context of the country's economic development and environmental institutions. Lack of data has been the main limitation in presenting a more rigorous analysis. Nevertheless, the report builds on the best available secondary data, presents new data on the country's wealth composition, and derives new results on the costs of water and air pollution.