Intern Blog #3: Reflections

Most recently I have been assisting one of my colleagues by conducting research on the links between development, land tenure and climate change. The intersection between the three is more pronounced than I would have thought and has made me realise just how central land tenure is to achieving development outcomes, climate change outcomes, and conversely, how climate change efforts can affect development and land tenure. For example, some of my research indicated that often climate change adaptation and mitigation practices – those being actions which either reduce the risk of climate impacts on the land, or help the landholder adapt to the effects of climate change – are often only available to those with formally recognised land ownership. This leaves those who have informal tenure – that which is not legally recognised in the jurisdiction’s land administration system – vulnerable. The vulnerability boils down to the fact that farmers or land dwellers are only likely to invest in climate smart agriculture (‘CSA’) or sustainable land management (‘SLM’) practices if they are sure that they will be the ones to reap the benefits from those investments, which may take many years to become fruitful. For those with insecure tenure, making a longer-term investment, in, for instance, agroforestry, is not logical as they may have their land stripped from them before the benefits of their investment are felt – due to an inability to defend their rights to land. They therefore have less incentive to protect themselves from the effects of climate change – both present and future. This is, however, not to say that those with informal tenure do not act as good stewards of the land they inhabit. It is just that in the absence of a perceived sense of tenure security, landholders not have the same incentives to invest in the long term climate resilience of their land where they cannot guarantee they will see out the benefits of such an investment.

A significant investment is required to get to targets set for 2030 and 2041. Under the current baseline only around 3% of renewables contributes to the country’s energy needs. Benefiting from high UV penetration, the obvious contender to reach this target is the rapid and intense installation of solar farms, otherwise known as utility-scale solar connecting to the nation’s power grid.

More than 200 submissions were received which can be viewed here, including LEI’s submission. Our submission emphasised the importance of DFAT reengaging with the land sector in the Indo-Pacific. We define ‘land sector engagement’ to include context specific measures to support inclusive land tenure security, the collection and utilisation of geospatial data, and stable and effective land administration systems.

Large-scale land investments across Africa and Asia have often caused repercussions to food security and supply issues. They have often compromised the livelihoods of smallholder farmers, exacerbated land tenure conflicts and caused environmental degradation. Addressing investment practices – through inclusive business and sustainable agroecology – has the potential to achieve more sustainable food systems and is the core focus of the recently launched Transformative Land Investment (TLI) project.

It creates a financial value for forest carbon, incentivising forest protection rather than forest destruction. This is critical given the mitigation potential of REDD+ is in the realm of 5 gigatons of carbon per year, coming behind only the energy sector in terms of mitigation potential.

For many Australians, Nauru is known only for its divisive history (and present) ‘hosting’ refugees that have made it to our shores. Others may recall a past that ransacked the nation’s ecology for its high-quality phosphate. Phosphate mining has stripped the elevated inland (‘Topside’) of its tropical forests to leave behind a pinnacled-desert, rendered largely uninhabitable. The nation’s 12,000+ people are left to live and work along the lower-lying thin strip of coastline around the island.

In carrying out this assignment, LEI has partnered with Bangladesh company Environmental and Resource Analysis Centre (ENRAC), bringing safeguards, planning and design for infrastructure experience along with software systems for data analysis and planning. Another partner is Australia’s University of New South Wales, School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy (SPREE)[1], specialists in photovoltaic installations in a range of large scale national and international settings. To successfully deliver this project long-time colleague of LEI, Robert Cross, will be leading our team. He is a land specialist, with 30 years’ experience in land administration in various developed and developing countries, including Bangladesh.

2019 saw the “Climate Emergency” raised to the fore around the globe gaining huge public momentum and varying political attention. It’s difficult to write from a country that ignored a call from neighbouring Pacific leaders in August and then a month later at the UN summit rejected future commitments to a global UN Climate Fund. Nonetheless, we at LEI, are committed.

Over the past few months we’ve worked with a local digital design team and are pleased to invite you to revisit our website. It boasts a fresh new look, improved site navigation and for us, greater usability to share our news and project updates. We hope you enjoy browsing … www.landequity.com.au.

This year’s International Federation of Surveyors (FIG) Working Week in Christchurch, New Zealand, focused on “Recovery from Disaster”. Having experienced significant earthquakes in recent years, the city was well placed to host this event and showcase how the local population has innovated and adapted in the face of so much destruction.