6. Indigenous Peoples

Abstract

Issues related to indigenous peoples and environmental law were discussed in 2010 in several human rights bodies and processes, at the tenth Conference of the Parties (COP-10) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and under or in connection with the international climate change regime. Highlights include the prominent inclusion of traditional knowledge in the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from Their Utilization to the CBD (Nagoya Protocol), in-depth discussions on indigenous rights and corporate accountability, and progress on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, conservation of forest-carbon stocks, sustainable management of forests, and enhancement of forest-carbon stocks (REDD+). This report will start with a review of the general developments on indigenous peoples’ rights that are relevant for international environmental law, focusing on developments in human rights bodies and processes related to conflicts between environmental protection and indigenous rights, on the one hand, and corporate accountability with respect to indigenous peoples on the other. It will then review the outcomes of the CBD COP-10 that are of relevance for indigenous peoples, including an overview of the international obligations related to access to, and benefit sharing from, the use of traditional knowledge and genetic resources held by indigenous and local communities contained in the Nagoya Protocol. The report will turn to the indigenous rights implications of ongoing negotiations on REDD + in a post-2012 international regime on climate change, as discussed under the CBD, international programs supporting REDD pilot activities, and the international climate change regime.