Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC): A framework for corporate engagement with indigenous peoples and the sustainable development of natural resources

Abstract

While in the traditional human rights discourse, states are seen as the sole guarantors of human rights, companies are increasingly tasked with human rights duties by states. Based on the normative and moral narrative sustaining corporate human rights obligations, this thesis asserts that companies have an obligation to realise the Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) of indigenous peoples. However, most corporate-led participatory processes still do not put consent at the centre of consultations with indigenous peoples or implement a truncated version of FPIC. In the absence of a binding treaty introducing human rights obligations for companies, Human Rights Impact Assessments (HRIA) emerge as an effective tool to contribute to the operationalisation of FPIC in the context of extractive projects affecting indigenous peoples. If collaborative and consent-based, HRIA allow companies to identify and account for human rights impacts on indigenous peoples and comply with their normative obligation to implement FPIC.