For a just transition to a sustainable planet we must secure land rights

Embedding land rights in human rights obligations: Towards a roadmap

“The evidence is clear, there can be no just transitions towards climate-resilient and land degradation-neutral landscapes without securing the legitimate land tenure rights of those who live and work on the land.” – With this introductory statement, Jes Weigelt, Head of Programmes at TMG, provided an overarching rationale for TMG’s strong presence in Abidjan, and our proactive approach to supporting UNCCD parties and other stakeholders to implement the landmark decision on land tenure.

 

COP 15 coincided with the global commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the Voluntary Guidelines on Responsible Governance of Land, Forests and Fisheries in the Context of National Food Security (VGGT). In addition to actively supporting follow up negotiations on the land tenure decision at this COP, TMG Research was involved in developing two land governance toolkits launched at the session: The Technical Guide on the Integration of the VGGT into the Implementation of the UNCCD - co-published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) and the UNCCD; and the Human Rights and Land Navigator, co-developed with the Danish Institute for Human Rights and the Malawi Human Rights Commission.

"The fact that the Guidelines are voluntary does not mean that human rights are voluntary,"

.. emphasized TMG Managing Director, Alexander Müller, as he opened the session. Noting the VGGT were specifically designed to support countries to meet their human rights obligations, he cited the International Covenant on Economic and Social and Cultural Rights, in which 170 countries commit themselves to progressively realize the right to food, as well as access to land as a means for ensuring food security. The fact that more than 800 million people are going hungry today is a blatant violation of their human rights, he stressed, which makes the Navigator a powerful tool for applying the relevant binding human rights obligations and holding governments accountable.

 

Sebastian Lesch, Head of the Agriculture Department at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) lauded the UNCCD for being the only multilateral agreement to explicitly address the issue of land tenure. He noted that while the VGGT may be considered soft law, they are based on many important and binding human rights, expressing his ministry’s strong support for the TMG-led human rights-based land monitoring programme. He welcomed, in particular, its focus on promoting greater transparency and accountability of and governance actors and helping ensure that large-scale restoration activities “do no harm" to people and the land and ecosystem resources on which they depend.

Therese Arnesen, UN Human Rights Office, described the Navigator as an illustrative example of how to “unpack and apply” human rights. Through the UNCCD land tenure decision, she said, parties have already adopted key elements of a rights-based approach to their work and  

"...must now take the next step of ensuring that people can actively and meaningfully participate in decision making that affects them, be it at the COP or at local and national levels."

She suggested that making explicit references to human rights such as the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment can contribute to strengthening COP decisions on land tenure.

Towards COP 27: Facing some uncomfortable truths in the climate transition

“Listening to people is not just a moral, but legal imperative.”, said Therese Arnesen. While climate is undoubtedly the “big sister” of the three Rio Conventions, the UNCCD is increasingly becoming the locus of conversations around the importance of connecting “people and land” in the transition to a more climate-resilient world.

As numerous speakers across the four COP 15 sessions noted, inclusive policy making must build on local struggles to stake legitimate claims to land. As global demand for land – including for food production, biofuel production or meeting climate change mitigation targets – continues to grow, we will continue to see a corresponding rise in land-based conflicts.  "How one company can lease 62 million acres of land without violating rights?" wondered Müller. "Even marginal land is inhabited by people. This raises fundamental questions about the human rights basis of the global goal of restoring one billion hectares of degraded land by 2030."

Ultimately, national governments have the primary responsibility for ensuring that programmes to implement all three Rio Conventions comply with human rights obligations. In the words of Teddy Kamato, UNCCD Focal Point for Malawi:

“We must recognize that land is degraded because communities depend on these areas for their livelihoods.”  

All stakeholders must start listening to communities to take on land tenure questions that are at the heart of responsible land governance, he concluded.

Read TMG's full report on the COP15 meetings here.