Article 6 and Land Rights

Carbon projects often impact lands managed by communities with insecure or informal tenure rights, especially in Africa and Asia, where carbon markets are expanding rapidly. Nearly 80% of land managed by Indigenous Peoples and local communities in these regions lacks formal recognition.

The IPCC (2023) highlighted risks in contexts of unclear tenure rights, with examples from Cambodia, Kenya, and Latin America showing conflicts over land rights in carbon project implementation. Many countries fail to recognize longstanding residents as Indigenous Peoples, necessitating protections for these communities.

Women in developing countries, who often lack equal land rights, are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of carbon markets and require specific safeguards. Furthermore, most nations lack frameworks to define community-based carbon rights or the intersection of land rights with carbon projects.

Evidence shows that forests owned and managed by Indigenous Peoples and local communities have lower deforestation rates, store more carbon, and support greater biodiversity.