Download file (1.65 MB)The climate crisis demands urgent action, yet we live in a politically polarized and paralyzed world. As governments and other actors struggle over climate change, our environment is irreversibly changing. A United Nations report on the Global Assessment of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services revealed that three-quarters of the earth’s land-based environment has been significantly altered by human actions. Land degradation has reduced the productivity of 23% of the global land surface, nearly $600 billion in annual global crops are at risk from pollinator loss and 100-300 million people are at increased risk of floods and hurricanes due to the loss of coastal habitats. In one glimmer of hope, the report emphasizes that in areas managed by indigenous peoples and local communities, these trends have been less severe or avoided entirely. Nonetheless, climate change threatens the survival of indigenous peoples around the world.
How can the land use of indigenous and other communities help address the climate crisis, and what is needed to protect the ability of these communities to sustainably manage their lands and resources, and to adapt to the effects of global heating? This webinar explored these questions.
This webinar was co-hosted by the Land Portal Foundation, the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment and Landesa.
Authors and Publishers
The vision of the Land Portal Foundation is to improve land governance to benefit those with the most insecure land rights and the greatest vulnerability to landlessness through information and knowledge sharing.
The Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (CCSI), a joint center of Columbia Law School and the Earth Institute at Columbia University, is the only university-based applied research center and forum dedicated to the study, practice and discussion of sustainable international investment.
MISSION
Our mission is to develop practical approaches for governments, investors, communities and other stakeholders to maximize the benefits of international investment for sustainable development.
About Landesa
Landesa partners with governments and local organizations to ensure that the world’s poorest families have secure rights over the land they till. Founded as the Rural Development Institute, Landesa has helped more than 105 million poor families gain legal control over their land since 1967. When families have secure rights to land, they can invest in their land to sustainably increase their harvests and reap the benefits—improved nutrition, health, and education—for generations.