Category Archives: Local and Indigenous Rights

The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) states that the free, prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples is required “prior to the approval of any project affecting their lands [especially] mineral, water or other resources.” Despite indigenous titles and/or local democratic processes, mineral rights are often sold and projects begun with no consent. The UN’s Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples recently identified extractive industries as “a major and immediate concern of indigenous peoples all over the world.”