Since 2009, Oxfam and others have been raising the alarm about a great global land rush. Millions of hectares of land have been acquired by investors to meet rising demand for food and biofuels, or for speculation. This often happens at the expense of those who need the land most and are best placed to protect it: farmers, pastoralists, forest-dependent people, fisherfolk, and indigenous peoples.

 

This yearbook chapter discusses the link between international investment law and commercial pressures on the world’s natural resources. It argues that changes in legal frameworks are redefining control over natural resources, and facilitating transitions toward more commercialised land relations. As pressures on resources increase, many national laws undermine the rights of people impacted by investments. If not properly thought through, international treaties to protect foreign investment could compound shortcomings of local and national governance.

This document provides guidances on how businesses can respect legitimate tenure rights and human rights in their land-based investments. It

• translates principles of responsible land governance and tenure (see the VGGT) into practical mechanisms, processes and actions,

• gives examples of good practice – what has worked, where, why and how, and

• provides useful tools for activities such as the design of policy and reform processes, for the design of investment projects and for guiding interventions.

European and US development funds are bankrolling palm oil company Feronia Inc despite land and labour conflicts at its plantations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). New information now raises questions as to whether the Canadian-based company misused millions of taxpayer dollars destined for international aid by way of companies connected to a high-level DRC politician.

In Burma, where 70 percent of people earn a living through agriculture, securing land is often equivalent to securing a livelihood. But instead of creating conditions for sustainable development, recent Burmese governments have enacted abusive laws, enforced poorly conceived policies, and encouraged corrupt land administration officials that have promoted the displacement of small-scale farmers and rural villagers.

Following the financial and food crisis in 2008 the phenomenon of land grabbing through large-scale investments in land leading to forcible displacement of rural population, increasing their food insecurity and disregarding Human Rights became a hot topic on the global agenda. At the same time it became clear, that more investments were needed into the agricultural sector to increase food security and secure agricultural productivity.

India’s ambitious development agenda involves facilitating investment for economic growth, infrastructure development, and social progress. Yet, thousands of investment projects have been stalled to date, raising red flags for the health of the country’s financial regulatory systems, public sector banks, and investment community. While official reasons given for stalled projects remain opaque, deep contestation leading to conflict on public (and private) lands must be better understood as a substantive risk to investments.

A surge in land grabbing over the past decade has seen millions of people displaced from their homes and farmland, often violently, and pushed deeper into poverty. As demand for food, fuel and commodities increases pressure on land, companies are all too often striking deals with corrupt state officials without the consent of the people who live on it. Until now, there has been little analysis of the role that corruption plays in the transfer of land and natural resources from local communities to political and business elites.  

A submission from EarthRights International regarding the Paperwork Review Act approval process for the reporting requirements. On July 11, 2012, the U.S. Government announced a partial waiver of the ban on new investments in Myanmar. Americans are now allowed to invest in Myanmar but will be required to provide annual reports on their policies and procedures for human rights, environmental management, labor standards, land acquisition, and anti-corruption.

This note provides guidance for businesses to identify and address legacy land issues in agricultural investments.

The Learning Route (LR) is capacity development deliverable of the TSLI-ESA project implemented by UN-Habitat through GLTN, funded by IFAD. It aims at enhancing awareness, knowledgeand skills of staff from IFAD supported projects, programs and partners in application of geo-spatial technologies in securing land and natural resource tenure and on innovation on inclusive business models (IBMs).

Exposición de Rene Martinez de Fundación Jubileo para el seminario "Mecanismos de financiación a la actividad agropecuaria de Bolivia: aporte desde tarija" realizado el 25 de mayo de 2012 en el salón de reuniones del Hotel Viña del Sur de la ciudad de Tarija , Bolivia.