40% of global land area is considered degraded.

Each day we lose more biodiversity, and our ecosystems decline, making our planet even more susceptible to rising temperatures and extreme climate events. These, in turn, further undermine remaining natural carbon sinks – the vast forests, wetlands and grasslands that the 2.5 billion people who live on and from the land call home. 

Because land is at the centre of the climate crisis, many of the solutions to it lie in how land is governed and managed.

As stands, large-scale industrial agriculture is responsible for between 25-30% of global emissions. The industry drives biodiversity loss, destroys carbon sinks, and exacerbates food insecurity.  Land-based ecosystems are further deteriorated by resource and mineral extraction, ranging from fossil fuels to the extraction of “green transition” minerals.

land tenure rights for protecting biodiversity and reversing land degradation -

ILC promotes land rights as a critical cornerstone for community based conservation and restoration initiatives, while being a defense against top down initiatives that undermine land rights, prevent traditional land use practices or lead to land evictions.

land tenure rights as a climate solution

ILC's climate-focused work ensures solutions to fighting climate change are just and equitable and do not undermine the rights of those living off the land. In particular, our work promotes land rights as a basis for carbon and biodiversity markets and other financing initiatives, while highlighting the need to protect land rights in the context of the green energy transition.