Indigenous rights and extractive resource projects: negotiations over the policy and implementation of FPIC

Abstract

ABSTRACTFree, prior, informed consent (or ‘FPIC’ as it is known) has emerged in recent years in international policy and civil society circles as the focal rights-based approach to safeguard indigenous rights in the context of industrial projects in indigenous territories. FPIC refers to a process whereby indigenous peoples affected by a project have the free choice, based on sufficient and timely information, of whether and how a project occurs, according to their systems of customary decision-making. However, despite this increasing and widespread endorsement in international policy and law, FPIC remains contentious, with governments voicing reluctance to confer ‘veto’ rights to indigenous peoples, and companies unsure on how to implement FPIC in practice. This article critically examines how FPIC emerged as the focal rights-based approach to ensuring indigenous peoples are not negatively impacted, and benefit from extractive projects such as oil and gas, and mining, while discussing some of the various challenges from industry perspectives in trying to implement FPIC in practice.