Submissions Accepted for Presentation at the World Bank Land Conference 2024

Contemporary corporate governance in India largely views land as a government responsibility although it is a key financial and social risk. In this paper, with an objective to distil principles and lessons for Indian corporates, we provide an overview of emerging global instruments around land-responsible investment frameworks, tools and guidelines viz. FAO’s VGGT, USAID’s Responsible Investment Guidelines, Interlaken group’s Guideline for Respecting Land and Forest Rights, Landesa’s Responsible Investment on Property and Land, IAWG’s guidance on responsible investment and the Social and Environmental Frameworks of World Bank and IFC. We also look at corporate initiatives around voluntary commitments and delve into cases involving delays and stalling of investments as a result of such risks. We contrast these cases with Indian good practices to underline need of land tenure diligence while arguing for embedding land risk management in the ESG-risk framework of Indian Corporate Governance.

Ethiopia is known to be currently suffering from considerable food deficits. Therefore, Ethiopia has been promoting large-scale agricultural investment (LSAI) to transform the agricultural sector. In this context, GIZ and DLR entered a cooperation to develop a remote sensing approach for monitoring the actual state of land use of the LSAI areas. The approach was developed based on Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 data using Google Earth Engine. First step is a land use/land cover classification to identify cropland. Second, different input parameters and combinations thereof were evaluated for crop type classification. The accuracies of 33 supervised random forest models were assessed for crop classification for three study areas and two years. The finally selected method is applied for crop type mapping and used to investigate class-specific accuracies. The developed methods and classification results are provided to GIZ and regional experts to support agricultural investment monitoring in Ethiopia.

This study scrutinizes the impact of climate change on land utilization in Chile, contextualizing the urgency of efficient land management amidst diminishing arable land. It delves into the paradoxes inherent in Chile's rural property system, where secure tenure coexists with governmental shortcomings in strategic territorial oversight. Despite economic growth and reduced poverty, empirical evidence from agricultural censuses spanning 1955 to 2021 reveals escalating land concentration and fragmentation. Legislative measures to combat fragmentation overlook environmental impacts, while state inaction perpetuates structural disparities in land ownership. The research posits that these issues stem from an outdated tenure model predicated on individualistic property rights, and calls for a reimagined cooperative approach that aligns with the exigencies of climate change and sustainable.

The paper critically examines how the Brazilian Amazon's federal and state land laws inadvertently incentivize forest destruction, illegal land occupation, and subsequent titling. It identifies five key incentives across nine states: continuous occupation of public lands, titling of recently deforested areas, lack of commitment to environmental liability recovery, subsidized land prices fueling speculation, and inadequate land allocation procedures. Recommendations include aligning policies with deforestation reduction, charging market prices for land sales, requiring pre-titling environmental commitments, prohibiting titling for recently deforested lands, and advocating for transparent land allocation. Brazil faces a crucial moment in determining how land laws impact forest preservation and climate goals for 2030. While the 2023 government implemented measures to improve land allocation and protect public forests, impending National Congress bills threaten to undermine these efforts, perpetuating land grabbing and forest loss.