As interest grows in supporting multi-stakeholder forums (MSFs) to address land-use and climate change, it is important to understand how these processes operate from the perspectives of their participants. The academic literature on their equity largely presents a dichotomy: participatory processes either allow for horizontal decision-making with more equitable and effective outcomes for local populations, or they mask technologies of governance that do not address – and may reinforce – structures of inequality.

Rangelands contribute significantly toward improving livelihoods, offering food security, trade, and tourism for pastoral communities. Numerous challenges include poor government policies, loss of indigenous knowledge, and top-down approaches toward sustainable rangeland rehabilitation that often fail to consider local development adoption and sustainability. In such situations, effective management is needed for sustainable rangeland ecosystem goods and services in a context characterized by rainfall unreliability, poor soil nutrient status, and high uncontrolled grazing.

Senegal has far fewer conflicts than any other country in the Sahel and is considered one of the most stable countries in Africa. However, the south of the country is the scene of the longest-running armed conflict in Africa between the government and separatist groups in Casamance. Although it has evolved since the early 2000s into a low-intensity war that does not pose a significant security threat, it is still a source of instability in certain areas of the south of the country, where rebels control illegal logging and timber trade.

The colonial legacy of irrigated agriculture in Egypt continues to reinforce food security and poverty. Marginalized tenant farmers along the tail end of Drain 7 in Kafr El Sheikh face challenges of polluted, unreliable irrigation water, low crop productivity, income and food insecurity, and poor health.
Low value agriculture work is increasingly performed by marginalized women, whose work and time is undervalued and taken for granted.

Kalu Ganga, a major tributary of Amban Ganga, is one of the perennial rivers of Sri Lanka. Also, Amban Ganga is a major tributary of Mahaweli Ganga. The Kalu Ganga starts from Knuckles mountains, and about 90% of the catchment is covered with forests. The Government of Sri Lanka constructed Kalu Ganga and Moragahakanda Reservoirs in 2014 to increase the water availability in Mahaweli Basin to improve the agricultural and drinking water benefits in several provinces.

The Bangladesh polder zones cover 1.2 million hectares of agricultural land and are home to around eight million people with women playing a critical role in agriculture and food systems. With limited access to and control over productive resources and incomes, women are disproportionately vulnerable to climatic risks. Their ability to make important decisions can have positive outcomes on the governance of natural resources, agricultural productivity, and livelihoods.

Palm oil is considered a key commodity in supporting the Indonesian economy, generating both domestic revenue and foreign exchange. Such revenue needs to be distributed equally for the benefit of the government and society. This paper discusses the opportunities and challenges of the proposed revenue-sharing scheme, DBH Sawit, sourcing from palm oil, particularly between central and local governments. It examines how the proposed scheme can be implemented and what strategies can reward regions for moving toward environmental sustainability practices.

This Policy Brief provides scientifically sound guidance for decision-makers to help promote social learning in policy instruments and to foster synergies and address trade-offs among the multiple objectives of sustainable land use systems

Non-technical summary:
We summarize what we assess as the past year's most important findings within climate change research: limits to adaptation, vulnerability hotspots, new threats coming from the climate–health nexus, climate (im)mobility and security, sustainable practices for land use and finance, losses and damages, inclusive societal climate decisions and ways to overcome structural barriers to accelerate mitigation and limit global warming to below 2°C.
Technical summary: