Responsible governance of tenure promotes and supports the progressive realization of the right to adequate food, which is one of the objectives of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (VGGT; hereafter the Guidelines). The Guidelines also aim to foster sustainable social and economic development, the eradication of poverty and responsible investment. Voluntary and non-legally binding, the Guidelines were endorsed by the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) on 12 May 2012.

They build on international law – in particular, human rights law – and set out principles and internationally accepted standards for responsible practices. They are primarily addressed to states, but they also have provisions directly addressed at private sector actors, such as lawyers, surveyors and investors. They can also be used by implementing agencies, judicial authorities, local governments, organizations of farmers and small-scale producers, of fishers, and of forest users, by pastoralists, indigenous peoples and other communities, civil society, academia and all persons concerned to assess tenure governance and identify improvements and apply them.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has developed a series of technical guides to provide more detailed guidance on particular issues or for particular groups. This technical guide, Responsible governance of tenure and the law: a technical guide for lawyers and other legal service providers is aimed at legal professionals working with governments, civil society, the private sector or development agencies as well as law societies, notaries, judges and all those who are interested in understanding the role of law in giving effect to the provisions of the Guidelines.

Historic decision on land tenure adopted by UNCCD COP 14 ​​​​​​​. During a high-level session at the close of the UNCCD COP 14 (United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification Conference of the Parties) in September, a declaration to focus on land-based solutions to combat climate change was adopted. In the declaration, the relevance of the VGGT was reaffirmed for better access, control and stewardship over land and equitable tenure security. It encourages parties to use the principles laid out in the VGGT in the implementation of activities to combat desertification/land degradation and drought.  In closing the session Ibrahim Thiaw, Executive Secretary of the UNCCD, emphasized that the key message to the upcoming UN climate summit in New York was clear, “investing in land, unlocks multiple opportunities.”

FAO was invited to produce a technical guide on integrating the VGGT into the implementation of the Convention and land degradation neutrality, taking into account national contexts for consideration by the Conference of the Parties at its fifteenth session.

Land Tenure. Draft decision. COP 14  
The New Delhi Declaration: Investing in Land and Unlocking Opportunities
UNCCD website