This Development Talks will focus on how climate change, conflict and weak gender rights drive inequality, and how securing land and forest rights can be a solution. It will bring together an unusual mix of speakers from different countries and sectors to discuss both trends and practical solutions.
Today nearly a third of the world’s population does not have secure rights to the lands and forests they customarily claim. Secure indigenous and community land rights are often a pre-requisite for reducing deforestation and mitigating climate change; for enabling women’s economic and social empowerment, and for building peaceful and democratic societies.
Demand for land and other natural resources in developing countries has increased in recent years, placing pressure on these resources, and fueling conflict over them. Rising violence linked to conflicting claims can be deadly for rural environmental defenders, and costly for investors and others whose reputations and financial health are placed at risk by such conflicts.
Losing property rights mean losing many other rights as citizens, including the means to clothe and feed your families. Insecure indigenous and community land rights thus undermine progress to reach the Global Goals for sustainable development.