Convened by Dr Cecy Balogun, Dr Anthonia Ibitoye and Prof. Yetunde, A. Aluko, Centre for the Study of Race, Centre and Class, University of Johannesburg, South Africa

Global attention has been drawn to climate actions and green transitions given climate change impacts which are redefining livelihood patterns in underserved areas. Global discourses have focused on ambitious climate actions ranging from renewable energy installations to conservation initiatives; reshaping rural and peri-urban landscapes. While these interventions aim to mitigate climate change, they often unfold in underserved areas where land tenure is insecure and communities are politically and economically marginalized. The result is a troubling paradox: efforts to protect the planet may inadvertently lead to land dispossession, displacement, and the erosion of local livelihoods.

This panel, “Green Without Displacement: Navigating Climate Action and Land Rights in Underserved Areas in the Global South,” explores the complex intersection of climate action and land rights in underserved regions in the Global South. It will investigate how land tenure systems, green infrastructure projects, and environmental policy intersect to shape power dynamics over land and resource access. The discussion will feature case studies from across the Global South where indigenous peoples, smallholder farmers, and informal settlers have contested or negotiated their place within green agendas.

In this panel, we seek contributions that will explore the social, economic, political and legal implications of green transition projects on land access and community rights, community responses to environmental challenges, their voices on environmental justice, climate governance and land reforms, and participatory, right-based and inclusive frameworks for climate action that anchor on community consent, tenure security and equitable benefit-sharing.

The panel will address themes on land conflicts arising from green energy and conservation projects, legal frameworks that protect or undermine customary and informal land rights and community-based models of climate resilience and sustainable land stewardship.

Presentations will be followed by moderated discussions to highlight practical pathways for policy, advocacy and research collaboration. Through these discussions, the panel will contribute to global narratives on green transition that do not reproduce inequalities under the guise of sustainability but instead, foster justice, inclusion, and dignity for the most vulnerable in society.