9 FACTS ABOUT COMMUNITY LAND AND CLIMATE MITIGATION

The document argues that community lands, which cover approximately half of the world's land, are critical for carbon sequestration and biodiversity. It highlights that secure land tenure for IPLCs leads to lower deforestation rates and more effective climate mitigation than state-managed areas, often at a lower cost. However, the report notes that most community land lacks legal recognition, IPLCs receive less than 1% of official development assistance for climate change, and land defenders face increasing violence. It recommends securing land rights, improving law enforcement, and directing international climate funds toward IPLC-led management.

• Approximately half of the global land area is community land governed by IPLCs, with Africa having the highest proportion at 78.7%. Despite this, only 10% of the world's land is legally recognized under national laws as belonging to IPLCs.
• Secure land tenure for IPLCs is strongly associated with better forest conservation outcomes. In the Amazon between 2000 and 2012, annual deforestation rates on Indigenous lands in Bolivia, Brazil, and Colombia were two to three times lower than on similar land not managed by Indigenous people.
• Indigenous lands in the Amazon act as significant carbon sinks. From 2001 to 2020, 94% of Indigenous land area in the Amazon was a carbon sink, sequestering an average of -1.4 Mg CO2e/ha/year, while areas outside Indigenous lands in Brazil, Colombia, and Ecuador were net emitters of GHGs.
• Securing community land is a highly cost-effective climate mitigation strategy compared to industrial carbon capture. In Bolivia, Brazil, and Colombia, the costs of carbon mitigation through securing Indigenous land range from $2.04 to $11.88/t CO2, whereas carbon capture and storage for power plants is estimated at $58 to $85/t CO2.
• International climate funding for IPLCs is severely insufficient. Between 2011 and 2020, disbursements for IPLC land tenure and forest management in tropical countries totaled about $2.7 billion, which represents less than 1% of official development assistance (ODA) for climate change.
• Community lands face increasing threats from mining and organized crime. In the Amazon, over 20% of Indigenous land overlaps with mining concessions or illegal mining; lands with mining experienced forest loss rates at least three times higher than those without mining in Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru.
• Violence against land and environmental defenders (LEDs) is rising, with Indigenous people disproportionately affected. In 2020, 227 LEDs were killed, and over a third of those killed were Indigenous people.

APA

Veit, P. G. (2021). 9 FACTS ABOUT COMMUNITY LAND AND CLIMATE MITIGATION. World Resources Institute. https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2021-10/9-facts-about-community-land-and-climate-mitigation.pdf

Chicago

Veit, Peter G. 9 FACTS ABOUT COMMUNITY LAND AND CLIMATE MITIGATION. World Resources Institute, 2021. https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2021-10/9-facts-about-community-land-and-climate-mitigation.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Veit |first1=Peter G. |title=9 FACTS ABOUT COMMUNITY LAND AND CLIMATE MITIGATION |publisher=World Resources Institute |date=October 2021 |url=https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2021-10/9-facts-about-community-land-and-climate-mitigation.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{veit2021facts, author = {Veit, Peter G.}, title = {{9 FACTS ABOUT COMMUNITY LAND AND CLIMATE MITIGATION}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2021}, month = oct, url = {https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2021-10/9-facts-about-community-land-and-climate-mitigation.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }