Projects
Resources and Tools + Land and Agriculture
Projects By Topic
- Contracts And Human Rights
- Environmental And Climate Change Risks And Impacts
- Fair And Competitive Fiscal Framework
- Infrastructure And Linkages
- Integrated Community Development And Human Rights
- International Investment Law And International Human Rights Law
- Land Contracts And Transparency In Land-Based Investment
- Land Investments, Human Rights, And International Law
- Land, Climate Change, And The Sustainable Development Goals
- Legal And Technical Support Gaps
- Long-term Planning And Revenue Management
- Multi-Stakeholder And Expert Dialogue
- Outcomes And Linkages Of Large-Scale Agriculture Investments
- Policy And Advisory Work
- Policy Level And Project Level: Human Rights Impacts Of Investment Projects
- Research
- Resources And Tools
- Sustainable Resource Based Development Strategy
- Teaching And Curriculum Development
- Transparent And Mutually Beneficial Legal Framework
- Understanding Land, Investment, And International Law
- Climate Change
- Coordinating Multi-Stakeholder And Expert Dialogue
- Extractive Industries
- Human Rights & Development
- Investment & Human Rights
- Investment Law And Policy
- Land And Agriculture
- Land/Extractives Nexus
OpenCommunityContracts.org: A Database of Publicly Available Community-Investor Contracts
In September 2018, CCSI launched OpenCommunityContracts.org, a collection of publicly available agreements between local communities and investors. In some instances, the repository also features agreements that include host government parties. The agreements featured on the repository include benefit sharing agreements, leases, memoranda of understanding (MOUs), and revenue sharing agreements concluded in the context of agriculture, forestry, mining, oil and gas extraction, renewable energy, and other natural resource projects.
Community Development Requirements: Laws, Best Practices, and Community Development Agreements Database
CCSI has a growing portfolio of activities regarding community development requirements and community development agreements (CDAs) that includes: (i) mapping domestic legal requirements for community development in the context of mining projects; (ii) policy and research on best practices around CDAs and benefit sharing for extractive, agricultural, and forestry projects; and (iii) regularly maintained collection of publicly available community agreements relating to extractive, agricultural, and forestry projects.
Negotiation Support to Resource Rich, Low-, and Middle-Income Countries
CCSI created and manages the Negotiation Support Portal to improve the accessibility of tools, resources and technical assistance to support host governments’ planning, preparing for, negotiating, monitoring, and implementing large-scale resource and infrastructure investments. The portal also facilitates coordination among support providers and host governments. In addition, CCSI has launched a series of meetings of negotiation support providers to create a forum to discuss common challenges and opportunities, and to facilitate greater coordination among support providers.
Mapping the Renewable Energy Sector to the Sustainable Development Goals
Renewable energy is instrumental to the success of the SDGs. But, renewable energy projects have at times undermined the achievement of the SDGs and adversely affected human rights. Given the urgency and scale at which renewables must be deployed to meet the world’s climate goals, it is especially critical that we understand their potential impacts—both positive and negative—on each SDG, to ensure that renewable energy driven development does not come at the expense of other development goals.
Tool to Assess the Human Rights and Environmental Implications of Land Contracts
CCSI is developing a tool to assist stakeholders in conducting their own assessments of the human rights and environmental implications of land contracts. This tool will explain the main human rights or environmental issues that may be implicated by the underlying deals, note whether the issues are likely to be included in contracts, describe the relevant human rights norms or environmental standards, and provide an overview of best practices.
OpenLandContracts.org: A Database of Publicly Available Land, Agriculture and Forestry Contracts
OpenLandContracts.org is the first global repository of publicly available investor-state contracts for commercial agriculture or forestry projects. Users of the website can search contracts by different categories; view summaries of key social, human rights, environmental, fiscal, and operational provisions; compare certain provisions across contracts; and download full contracts. OpenLandContracts.org supports a number of stakeholders, and the platform is available to governments interested in developing country-specific databases.
Guides to Land Contracts
To make investor-state contracts for land, agriculture, and forestry projects more readily available and accessible, CCSI has created a range of guides and other resources to assist users of OpenLandContracts.org and others in better understanding these agreements.
Guides for Communities Interacting with Investors
CCSI partnered with Namati to produce two guides for communities and their advisors regarding their interactions with investors. The guides will help communities and their advisors to prepare for, and if they so wish, engage in empowered contract negotiations with investors seeking to use community lands and resources. Guide 1 focuses on preparing for potential investors, both before they arrive and after the community is approached by an investor. Guide 2 focuses on negotiating enforceable contracts that can protect the community’s interests and clearly set the terms under which the investor is permitted to operate.
Directory of Community Guidance on Agreements Relating to Agriculture or Forestry Investments
While there are a number of existing resources that can assist communities and their advocates in their interactions with investors over land—from negotiating better agreements with investors, to monitoring whether investors fulfill the terms of their agreements—these resources are not always easy to find. CCSI has created a detailed Google document that lists relevant guides and other documents, provides links to the original documents, and includes brief descriptions of their content.
Government Briefing: Incorporating Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) into Investment Approval Processes
Investment approval processes are the gateway through which governments set the agenda for their country’s investment environment. Yet too often these processes fail to incorporate meaningful requirements regarding participation in decision-making by Indigenous and other affected communities, increasing the risk of under-performing and conflict-ridden investments. This briefing will explain how host governments can incorporate FPIC and meaningful consultation into each stage of the investment approval process.
Support for Host Country Governments in the Planning, Preparation for, Negotiation, Implementation, and Monitoring of Large-Scale Investments
CCSI created a Negotiation Support Portal designed to improve the accessibility of technical assistance and of useful tools and resources to assist host governments planning, preparing for, negotiating, monitoring, and implementing large-scale investments in the extractive industries, land and agriculture, and infrastructure sectors, and to facilitate coordination among support providers and host governments.
Policy Briefs, Guides and Other Publications
CCSI produces a number of policy briefs, guides and other publications that are useful resources on topics of extractive industries, land and agriculture, and investment law and policy.