Description

Recent scientific research, notably high-profile global assessments such as from IPBES, the IPCC and UNEP, have highlighted the multiple and overlapping crises that both contribute to and are impacted by the climate crisis. Yet these crises – climate, biodiversity and food security – are most often treated separately, particularly at the level of international institutions and national policies. The current focus on net-zero pledges for climate mitigation has seen an uptick in the inclusion of land in national climate strategies. This presents both a risk and an opportunity: a risk of over relying on land for climate mitigation which could undermine climate action and displace existing land uses; and an opportunity to use the renewed focus on land to highlight the multifunctionality of land and its key role in responding to the multiple and overlapping crises of climate, biodiversity and food security. Central to achieving all of these goals is the recognition and secure tenure of indigenous lands and territories, something rarely included in national climate plans. This grant contributes to the chapter summarizing the evidence and arguments on IP lands as part of the overall Land Gap Report.

The overall goal of this project is to increase understanding of the role that land can play in climate mitigation (goal 1). This is designed as a reality check to ensure that enthusiasm for land restoration and carbon drawdown does not displace the focus on phasing out fossil-fuel emissions. Building on this, there are three goals related to highlighting the opportunities for best-practice approaches to land use and governance in the areas of: 2) land rights of indigenous peoples and traditional communities; 3) primary forest conservation; and 4) sustainable approaches to agriculture. The project narrative presented here is focused on goal 2: approaches to land rights, which is the work that is carried out under this grant.