The International Institute of Social Studies was part of a 14-organization consortium investigating the links between climate change mitigation initiatives and land grabs by looking at spatial, social, ecological and institutional dimensions. Focusing on Myanmar and Cambodia, the project sought to understand the interplay between climate change mitigation initiatives and land grabs from a landscape perspective – including spatial, social, ecological and institutional dimensions – and resulting trajectories of conflict and cooperation,
This project, 'Climate change mitigation policies, land grabbing and conflict in fragile states: understanding intersections, exploring transformations in Myanmar and Cambodia (MOSAIC)' ran from 2014-2018.
It found that climate change politics have overlapped with each other and resulted in land grabs and conflict in which the rural poor lose access to natural resources. In the two focus countries, Mynamar and Cambodia, villagers struggle for the both agrarian justice and climate justice, or ‘agrarian climate justice'.
The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) evaluated the project's scientific output with 4-5 out of 5, meaning ‘internationally excellent in terms of originality, significance and rigour’ and ‘world-leading in terms of originality, significance and rigour.’
Academic outputs
The consortium published in various major journals and has many more articles forthcoming in journals such as Climate Policy, World Development and Land Use Policy. The Canadian Journal of Development Studies, edited by MOSAIC researchers highlighted many of these themes in its special issue on Climate Change Policies, Land Grabbing and Conflict: Perspectives from Southeast Asia
