Indigenous-Led Spaces in Environmental Governance

Indigenous peoples’ voice and agency have increasingly been recognized in global policy discourses as critical to counter some of the most pressing environmental and development challenges of our time, such as climate change, biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation as well as social inequality and the denial of fundamental human rights. Indigenous peoples have tried to use the new formal participatory spaces to foster development priorities based on self-determination and territorial rights. Indigenous peoples pursued innovative forms of governance, such as instituting community protocols for resource development, engaging in natural resource monitoring and mapping exercises, and undertaking intensive lobbying in domestic and global environmental negotiations. Indigenous movements worldwide have demanded the recognition of the principle of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent.