Oxfam has urged G8 leaders to address the issue of land grabs in the upcoming G8 summit, stressing that secretive land investments put vulnerable communities at risk of losing their homes and farmlands without compensation. The organization is advocating for the establishment of a Land Transparency Initiative (LTI) that would regulate G8-based companies investing in land so that “affected communities are involved and heard in the negotiations.”
As Oxfam’s Chief Executive Mark Goldring explains, “the secrecy on the ground and among investors means that nobody is a winner and for the world’s poorest they can lose everything.”