Land is under growing human pressure, climate change is making it worse

Current patterns of land use, spurred by agricultural and energy policies, are driving global emissions and exacerbating deforestation and ecosystem degradation, with large-scale monoculture and livestock production among the main sources along with extractive industries. Economic dependence on expansion of natural resource exploitation boosts unequal land use and irresponsible land governance in addition to worsening climate change.

Secure land rights for indigenous peoples is a mitigation strategy

The collective natural resources governed by indigenous peoples and local communities are biodiversity hotspots that maintain the ecological balance of our planet and help regulate the climate that enables global food production.
IPCC research has shown that Indigenous Peoples and local communities manage at least 17 percent, or 293,061 million metric tons (Mt) of the total carbon stored in the forestlands of assessed countries.

Many global commitments to prevent further climate change are land-based

Our future depends on our capacity to stabilize the climate and limit global warming to 1.5 C°. To compensate the damage of emissions that cannot be reduced, carbon sequestration from the atmosphere needs to happen in alternative ways.
The most likely means of achieving carbon sequestration at scale will be via land-based solutions, such as afforestation, bio energy with carbon capture and storage.

Land-based solutions to carbon sequestration must take into account community rights to free, prior and informed consent. Land-based solutions can lead to an explosion in demand for land, threatening the right to land and food of many, especially of people and communities whose livelihoods depend on land.

Climate mitigation in agriculture and forestry should not be at the expense of small-scale producers and indigenous peoples

The use of land for agriculture, while supporting food availability for a growing population worldwide, is an important contributor to net greenhouse gas emissions, as well as loss of natural ecosystems and declining biodiversity. According to the IPCC report on Land and Climate, ‘agriculture, forestry and other land use activities’ represents 23% of total net anthropogenic emissions of GHGs.

Agricultural practices that include local and indigenous knowledge can contribute to overcoming the combined challenges of climate change, food insecurity, biodiversity loss, desertification and land degradation.
Climate mitigation initiatives should not be undertaken at the expense of the food security and livelihoods of poor people in developing countries. Initiatives which aim to reduce emissions, but not necessarily through locally rooted solutions, can take a toll on food security and livelihoods of small-scale farmers and fisherfolk, and on the use of indigenous farming technologies and knowledge.

Climate action in agriculture should focus on helping small-scale food producers, especially in developing countries, adapt to climate change while stopping expansion of large-scale industrial agriculture, which should be held accountable to reduce carbon emissions.