Responsible Land Governance and Secure Land Rights in Support of the 2030 Global Agenda

Land governance covers all activities associated with the management of land and natural resources that are required to fulfil political and social objectives and achieve sustainable development. This relates specifically to the legal and institutional frameworks for the land sector. The operational component of the land management concept is the range of land administration functions that include the areas of land tenure, land value, land use, and land development. These functions are essential to ensure control and management of the people to
land relationship and the economic and social outcomes emerging from it.
This paper unfolds the concept of responsible land governance and analyses the land governance components in relation to the global agenda. The paper, thereby, provides an overall understanding of the role of responsible land governance in support of the SDGs and the wider global agenda. The paper emphasises the importance of providing secure land rights at scale as a basis for developing efficient land markets, effective land use management and, more generally, promoting economic development and social stability.
Finally, the paper looks at the challenges ahead in relation to implementing responsible and countrywide land governance infrastructures. This relates to addressing the institutional issues in terms of the country specific political economy and the various vested interests apparent especially in developing countries. It is argued that FIG and the global land community has a
key role to play in this regard.