Land Governance at the Forefront: Reflections and Highlights from the 2025 World Bank Land Conference

The 2025 World Bank Land Conference in Washington, DC, brought together over 800 global land governance experts, policymakers, academics, and practitioners. This year’s theme, “Securing Land Tenure and Access for Climate Action”, placed land firmly at the center of climate discussions, with African voices and innovations leading key conversations.

The African Land Policy Centre (ALPC) and the Network of Excellence on Land Governance in Africa (NELGA), played an active role in shaping dialogue across climate resilience, gender justice, and youth engagement. Through a dedicated exhibit space and multiple sessions, NELGA showcased its commitment to supporting land policy research, youth capacity development, and university partnerships across the continent.

A standout was the NELGA session on “Securing Land for Climate Action in Africa: Ideas, Concepts and Experiences”. It brought together experts from NELGA universities, the Youth Initiative for Land in Africa (YILAA), the London School of Economics and Political Science, the Global Land Tool Network (GLTN), the International Federation of Surveyors (FIG) and GIZ African Union. The discussion focused on aligning land governance with climate action through science-policy strategies, highlighting contributions from NELGA representatives across East, West, and Southern Africa.

As global momentum builds toward COP30, NELGA contributions at the Land Conference reinforced one key message: Securing Land for Climate Action in Africa is fundamental to achieving climate justice in Africa. The partnerships built and knowledge shared in Washington will continue to drive action long after the conference’s close.