Climate Adaptation, Land Acquisition and Security: the Gendered Politics of Dispossession in Pakistan

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This research will investigate the impacts of land acquisition for climate (adaptation) related mega development projects on the security of vulnerable and marginalised citizens and communities. The research will use a gender lens to uncover how citizens face differentiated experiences of dispossession and access to legal mechanisms of accountability and redress. Two categories of land acquisition that are being developed in response to climate change will be investigated at sites across two of Pakistan's provinces: (1) rural land sold/leased to foreign investors and/or converted to Corporate Agriculture Farms (CAF); and (2) rural and urban land acquisition by local-foreign investors for the construction of climate-related mega development projects. The primary concern is to investigate how local security and livelihoods are impacted by these processes. Secondly it focuses on how various actors/institutions use diverse transparency, accountability and litigation mechanisms. The two provinces - Sindh and Punjab - have diverse histories of conflict, development and land use, offering important analytical and comparative avenues. The case studies reinforce the importance of the rural-urban nexus by bringing to the fore the complex interplay between international investment, governance regimes, land acquisitions, and differentiated forms of land dispossession and indigenous reactions. Two mechanisms to be investigated are, first, the expectation that climate adaptation developers consult communities and obtain Free, Prior and Informed Consent. Secondly, the role of The Right to Information Ordinance 2013 (RTI) which, supposedly, enables ordinary citizens access to official government documents and approach a court if access is denied concerning any project, scheme or development. Previous research has highlighted that a core driver of local conflicts in Pakistan is the lack of fair legal recourse and grievance mechanisms for ordinary citizens. This research will provide valuable data on how citizens see the state in climate-related development and if/how they can hold developers accountable. Such data will support appropriate capacity building to foster peaceful legal resolutions and mitigate for security risks of climate adaptation.