How Sierra Leone Enacted One of the Most Progressive Land, Climate, and Environmental Justice Laws in the World

In August, 2022, Sierra Leone passed one of the most progressive laws on land, environmental, and climate justice in the world. Among other things, the Customary Land Rights Act grants every community across the country the right to free prior informed consent over any industrial activity on their territory. As practitioners involved in this legislation (one of us served as coauthor of the bill), we reflect on the way the law grew directly from a decade of local fights against land grabs and pollution. We show how key provisions in the law, related to community consent, women's land rights, and responsible investment, each stemmed from specific grassroots struggles. Having shaped the contents of the bill, the people involved in those struggles led a nationwide movement to get the bill passed. This story holds lessons for organizers, advocates, and communities who seek to build from local fights against environmental injustice toward fundamental positive shifts in laws and systems.