The Financialisation of Land Sales
We are witnessing the increasing financialisation of land and territories as land and natural resources are sold off to financial actors such as banks, pension funds, and insurance companies. These actors often make use of complex investment webs involving any number of intermediaries, brokers, tax avoidance loopholes and off-shore schemes. All of these are attempts to distance themselves from public scrutiny, regulation, taxation and accountability. This is hugely disempowering for communities as it means that decisions are taken about land that are distant, undemocratic and hidden.
And agricultural land is by no means protected. And whether the new owners have purely financial motivations or have some interest in what the land offers (biomass, commodity sales), the outcome is the same: investors acquiring shares prioritise profitability, relegating agricultural production together with its social functions and its environmental objectives to a secondary place.
This session seeks to address the following questions:
- To what extent is financialisation happening in Europe?
- What are the consequences in terms of transparency of land ownership, the flouting of regulations, the impact on farmers’ independence, and impact on farm succession?
- How may we combat the financialisation of land sales?
This session is organised by the LandStrat project consortium and supported by Erasmus+
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