Potential Risks to Women’s Land Rights From Climate Actions: Exploring Matrilineal Communities in Colombia, Costa Rica, and Panama

This research paper examines how global climate actions may undermine women's land tenure security in three Indigenous matrilineal communities in Colombia, Costa Rica, and Panama. It highlights that failing to account for gender dynamics and traditional tenure systems during the implementation of climate initiatives can lead to the loss of land entitlements and the erosion of matrilineal culture.

• Climate actions that do not consider gender dynamics and differential tenure systems risk eroding the customary land rights and social support systems of women. In matrilineal communities, these risks include the loss of land entitlements, the disruption of livelihoods based on land, and the erosion of matrilineal culture.
• A primary driver of increased risk for women is the use of inadequate consultation processes. These processes are marked by power and information asymmetries and fail to integrate the community's culture, governance systems, and traditional land tenure.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). Potential Risks to Women’s Land Rights From Climate Actions: Exploring Matrilineal Communities in Colombia, Costa Rica, and Panama. https://www.wri.org/research/potential-risks-womens-land-rights-climate-actions-exploring-matrilineal-communities

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Potential Risks to Women’s Land Rights From Climate Actions: Exploring Matrilineal Communities in Colombia, Costa Rica, and Panama. n.d. https://www.wri.org/research/potential-risks-womens-land-rights-climate-actions-exploring-matrilineal-communities.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Potential Risks to Women’s Land Rights From Climate Actions: Exploring Matrilineal Communities in Colombia, Costa Rica, and Panama |url=https://www.wri.org/research/potential-risks-womens-land-rights-climate-actions-exploring-matrilineal-communities |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendpotential, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Potential Risks to Women’s Land Rights From Climate Actions: Exploring Matrilineal Communities in Colombia, Costa Rica, and Panama}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/potential-risks-womens-land-rights-climate-actions-exploring-matrilineal-communities}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }