The issue

Rural poor who have weak or no land tenure rights are among the most vulnerable to the direct effects of climate change, both because insecure land tenure reduces the incentives and capacities to take good care of the land to mitigate /adapt to the effects of climate change, and because without secure tenure rights, disasters can easily lead to land loss and migration, also through document loss and land grabbing. Yet, public understanding of the links between climate change, disasters, and land tenure is still very limited, leading to poor prevention and wrong response, and those without land or near landlessness are the most marginalized and voiceless, and are often left out of climate change discussions.

The action

On the request of the GFAR member Asian NGO Coalition for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ANGOC), GFAR facilitated the convening of a number of members in Asia and globally (CSOs, farmers’ associations, indigenous people’s associations and international networks) to explore common interests and identify common priorities to address the issue of extreme vulnerability of landless or near landless rural poor to climate change led disasters. Discussions also identified a common approach to address the issue, based on increased awareness, better documentation, and inclusion of affected communities in decision making.

The Collective Action is now taking place in Asia Pacific, coordinated by the Asian NGO Coalition for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ANGOC) in partnership with the Land Portal Foundation, the Association for Land Reform and Development (ALRD) in Bangladesh, the Global Land Tool Network (GLTN) and in liaison with ILC Asia, under the aegis of the Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI).      
Extension of the Action to other regions is foreseen based on demand, drawing from the experience of the first phase, and the global partners will support the scaling out.

Expected results

Outcomes

•    Better informed and more inclusively designed climate disaster prevention and resilience policies that factor in land tenure issues.

Objectives

•    Create greater awareness on the importance of land tenure rights in the climate change discourse among policy makers and the general public.
•    Clarify and stress the role of rural communities in documenting the issue and participating in policy making.
•    Make all data from the action open and visible.
•    Share good practices drawn from the Action for replication.

In the first phase in Asia, partners will conduct a 6-month pilot case study focusing on Bangladesh but drawing from case studies from other countries, and from a range of knowledge products and communications tools, deepening already existing case studies and reaching out to environmental experts, climate change activists and community leaders towards a social media campaign that will culminate in a workshop in Bangladesh in October 2023 and a webinar during COP28. 

The pilot will produce guidelines and good practices that will be leveraged and scaled out in other regions and countries.

All data, findings and material produced or used in the Action as well as other relevant publicly available resources will be adapted, organized and made available in open access on the Land Portal.

Partners

The Collective Action is starting in Asia Pacific, coordinated by the Asian NGO Coalition for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ANGOC) in partnership with the Land Portal Foundation, the Association for Land Reform and Development (ALRD) in Bangladesh, the Global Land Tool Network (GLTN) and in liaison with ILC Asia.
Besides ALRD, other ANGOC members like Transparency International, Society for Environment and Human Development, Kapaeeng Foundation, the Association for the Realisation of Basic Needs, the local Community Development Association and others are contributing.

ANGOC and the global partners will support the scaling out to other regions, in coordination with the relevant Regional Fora. 

What have we done so far?

• July 2022:
  • On demand from ANGOC, webinar facilitated by GFAR to convene interested members on the topic of "Understanding the links of land tenure, vulnerability, and climate-led disasters" and discuss ANGOC's study "No Time To Waste: Climate Action Through Secure Land Rights and Sustainable Land Use".
• September 2022 - March 2023:
  • Conversations to identify priorities and a common approach among interested members.
  • ANGOC and Land Portal developed the agenda; role of ALRD agreed.
• April - June 2023:
  • Preparation and signature of agreements; finalized detailed work plan.
  • Side event "Mainstreaming land rights of the rural poor in the climate change discourse" at the 8th Africa Agribusiness and Science Week (AASW) in Durban, South Africa, with ANGOC, Land Portal and Young Professionals for Agricultural Development (YPARD) (summary here).
  • Article: "Why climate discussions must include land rights for the rural poor".  
• July - August 2023:
  • Joint social media campaign of partners: #IfOnlyTheEarthCouldSpeak what would it say? #landmatters: see #land4climate on Twitter.
  • International Land Coalition informed; ILC Asia involved in social media campaign and invited to regional workshop.
  • Preparations for workshop in Dhaka (12-15 October)
  • GLTN added as partner (they will bring CSO representatives to the Dhaka workshop to discuss studies from African countries).
  • "What to read" digest: "Coping with climate stress in times of land insecurity: What do locals say?".
  • Preparation of video script.
  • Preparation of case studies.
• September - November 2023:
  • Release of video, release of data story.
  • Conference on “Mainstreaming land rights in the narrative of climate change -- views from the ground” in Dhaka on 9-10 October, organized by ANGOC in partnership with GFAR, GLTN and the Land Portal Foundation.to showcase how different countries in the region are addressing land issues in the frame of climate action and, thus, to create a greater understanding of the importance of land tenure rights in the climate change discourse and agenda.
  • Webinar on 22 November to raise awareness and discuss case studies and findings.