Despite the fact that land supports the world’s food systems and community well-being, land continues to be unequally distributed, poorly governed, and insecure for billions of people. While 50-65 percent of the world’s land is occupied and used by Indigenous Peoples and communities, only an estimated 10 percent of the world’s land is legally recognized as belonging to them, with another 8 percent designated by governments for them.

As the world races toward climate resilience and sustainable development, one truth grows clearer: we cannot reach a just energy transition without just land governance. On May 6, 2025, the World Bank Land Conference hosted the session “From Data to Action: Tools to Monitor Corruption, Improve Transparency, and Enable a Just Energy Transition” to tackle the persistent challenge of land corruption and transparency head-on.

High-Level Political Will, National Commitments, and a Campaign for Global Progress

On May 6, 2025, land tenure and governance took center stage at the World Bank Land Conference in Washington D.C., with the high-level plenary session “Global Land Governance and Tenure: A Call to Action.” This session convened an influential coalition of global actors—government ministers, technical experts, and civil society leaders—to spotlight how securing land rights can accelerate progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially SDG 1

This blog post from Transparency International and the Land Portal is a small preview of the discussion we're co-organizing at the World Bank Land Conference next month. The focus is on moving from awareness to action with strategies to secure land tenure and access, while scaling up initiatives, investments, and policy reforms for climate change mitigation and adaptation - including tools to monitor transparency and corruption. 

Photo: Fungai Nyikadzino in her field where the harsh sun and low rainfall devastated her crops in southern Zimbabawe. She has now received improved seeds and goats from Oxfam and partners in an initiative aimed at improving livelihoods in the arid region. (Picture: Loliwe Phiri / Oxfam)

This blog post is part of the series What to Read. 

Reflections from the Third Arab Land Conference and the LAND-at-scale Regional Day

Land is more than just a resource—it is the foundation of livelihoods, economic stability, and social justice. Responsible land governance plays a crucial role in sustainable development, conflict prevention, and climate resilience. These themes were central to the Third Arab Land Conference which took place the 18-20th February 2025 in Morocco, where policymakers, experts, and civil society organizations gathered to discuss pressing land challenges in the region. 

On International Women’s Day, we reflect on the intersection of land rights and gender equity through a compilation of resources featured on the Land Portal’s platform. Women’s access to and control over land is fundamental to achieving sustainable development, economic empowerment, and social justice. However, despite international commitments, structural barriers continue to hinder women’s full participation in land governance.

Ten years ago, in August 2015, a World Bank report highlighted that open data can “advance most if not all of the 17…U.N.

Photo credit: LAND-at-scale

On February 27, 2025, the Land Portal Foundation hosted an insightful webinar on Exploring Sustainable Financing of Land Registration and Land Governance. As financial sustainability remains a major challenge for land administration systems worldwide, experts from Burundi, Uganda, Somalia, and international institutions shared their experiences and strategies to transition from donor-dependent models to self-sustaining financing mechanisms.