This report explores some of the critical challenges that converge at the intersection of climate change and land governance. Some of these challenges are droughts, desertification, disaster risk, land and water management, land degradation and restoration, soil erosion and conservation, biodiversity, and food security. In examining these challenges in the context of the Arab region, the report aims to: Create new knowledge based on existing sources of information and data as well as expert experiences and recommendations.

Developed by the Arab Land Initiative’s partners UN-Habitat, Global Land Tool Network and Lebanese Center for Policy Studies (LCPS) with the support of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the report “Land, Natural Resources and Climate Change in the Arab Region” describes how poor land governance and natural resource management adversely impact biodiversity, land degradation neutrality and climate mitigation and adaptation.

Based on the analysis of case studies, outcomes of regional expert consultations and examination of existing bibliography, the report confirms that climate change, the greatest challenge of the 21st century, is impacting land, natural resources and ecosystems in the Arab region, with dire negative consequences on people’s lives and livelihoods.

Good land governance and land tenure security are essential to mitigate challenges and foster sustainable development in the context of climate change. The report recommends setting, committing to, and reporting against land-related SDG indicators and national land degradation neutrality (LDN) targets. Sustainable land management and land-use planning are reconfirmed as key tools to halt land, rangeland and forest degradation and guide urban expansion. The report proposes adopting fit-for-purpose and climate-resilient land administration approaches to promote practical solutions to security of tenure and land-use management.

Contribute to contextualizing and developing internationally negotiated frameworks on land governance and climate change in ways that recognize land tenure-related challenges in different regional geographic contexts.
Help relevant central governments, local authorities, and concerned civil society organizations in the Arab region to understand, better, the interrelation between climate-related challenges and land and natural resources management (specifically, water).

Stimulate policy debates and encourage further research on the topic, particularly policy-oriented research that seeks to promote effective land management and administration tools to protect the land tenure rights of vulnerable groups against climate change effects.

The report builds on the recommendations of key international frameworks related to climate and land that Arab countries have endorsed. It also relies on relevant literature and well-founded arguments that consider good land governance as a crucial factor in stabilizing vulnerable communities and enhancing their resilience to shocks and stresses, including the adverse impacts of climate change on land and property rights. The report covers urban and rural areas, agrarian and pastoralist communities, natural resource-based conflicts, forced migration, and displacements.
Questions of access to and control over land and natural resources are core concerns throughout the report in view of land inequalities and plural land tenure arrangements that characterize Arab countries.

Climate change in the Arab region is manifested by temperature rise, erratic and decreased precipitation levels and prolonged dry seasons, sea level rise, and increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events and natural hazards. These natural phenomena impact different land types differently. Agricultural lands are affected by a mix of climatic factors including variability of rainfall and increased incidents of droughts, sea level rise, increased temperatures, floods, soil degradation and erosion.

Pastoral and rangelands are also affected by climatic hazards (e.g., drought, floods and blizzards). Oases in hyperarid areas are impacted by water shortage and soil salinization. Forests and woodlands are vulnerable to droughts and heatwaves (with increasing risk of forest fire due to prolonged dry seasons).

Human-induced triggers relating to unsustainable management add to these challenges. These include overgrazing in rural areas, commercial agriculture involving monocultures, unplanned and unregulated urbanization, unchecked
commercialization and privatization of land resources, growing land markets and land speculation lead to altering soil properties, biodiversity loss, and reduction in forest plants, native insects and animals. The combined effects of climatic,
physiographic and human-induced factors are leading to several regional processes highly associated with land degradation, mainly soil erosion, soil salinity, water erosion and wind erosion. It is estimated, presently, that about 73 per cent of land in the Arab region is impacted by land degradation and loss of biodiversity, with this coverage rising up to 92 per cent in hyperarid areas characterized by scarce water resources and limited fertile lands. This estimate includes around 130 million hectares of degenerated rangeland.