Part I The UNDRIP’s Relationship to Existing International Law, Ch.4 The UNDRIP and Interactions with International Investment Law

Abstract

This chapter examines the relationship of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) to international investment and economic law. Interactions between international investment law and indigenous rights are becoming more frequent. On the one hand, there is a quantitative increase in foreign investments. These investments are protected by an ever denser net of bilateral investment treaties (BITs). On the other hand, indigenous peoples' territories are often resource-rich areas with significant attraction for foreign investors. This entails a considerable risk that investment projects on indigenous territories encroach upon indigenous rights. Negative consequences include detrimental impacts on indigenous peoples' relationship to their lands, environmental degradation, and pollution. These risks are even more acute, given the importance of lands for indigenous culture. Thus, indigenous rights increasingly conflict with the rights of foreign investors and show an evident need for coordination between both systems — indigenous peoples' rights and international investment law.