Global Witness | 17 November 2016
A new report launched today takes the most comprehensive look to date at how corruption is fuelling the global land grabbing crisis, which has seen millions of people displaced from their homes and farmland.
Tainted Lands, authored by Professor Olivier De Schutter, the former UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food, and leading human rights organizations Global Witness and the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable (ICAR), calls on companies and governments to ensure that land deals are transparent, are corruption-free, and protect the rights of local communities.
”As demand for food, fuel, and commodities increases pressure on land, companies are all too often striking deals with corrupt State officials without the consent of the people who live on it,” said Professor De Schutter. ”The last decade has seen an upsurge in land grabs for industries like mining, logging, agribusiness, and infrastructure projects, with local communities rarely consulted or compensated.”
