Chapter 14: Addressing land inequality, rehabilitation and competing uses
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This chapter first examines how international law impacts on decisions with respect to land uses, distribution and rehabilitation in peace processes. The past decades have shown an increase in recourse to international legal bodies to address disputes over land distribution, uses and rehabilitation. This raises the question as to whether and to what extent international law offers a coherent framework for addressing land as part of environmental peacebuilding. Since land issues have played a role in most armed conflicts that occurred over the past decades, addressing such issues in peace processes is essential for the resolution of these conflicts and for maintaining the peace that has been so hard won. This chapter then explores whether and how the notion of environmental peacebuilding can be instrumental in mainstreaming international legal responses for the purpose of achieving a sustainable peace.