Monday, December 14, 2015
Land Rights: From Awareness to Action; Ford Recognized For Long Support of Sustainable Development
Recently, land rights issues have been getting a lot of global attention. At the 2015 climate change conference in Paris, for example, indigenous peoples leaders and other activists have highlighted the importance of local land and resource rights to safeguard tropical forests on indigenous lands as an important element of global emission reduction efforts. And the United Nations’ (UN) new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted in September, include two that focus on marine and terrestrial ecosystems, and three others—focused on ending poverty, achieving food security, and advancing women’s rights—that include land rights amongst their various targets.
This heightened awareness of land rights issues is heartening to observe, because as Columbia University economist Jeffrey Sachs noted in calling for a greater focus on land in the SDGs, “Land rights, both for individuals and for communities, are critical for achieving sustainable development.” . .