Introduction Accommodating Interests in Resource Extraction: Indigenous Peoples, Local Communities and the Role of Law in Economic and Social Sustainability (original) (raw)
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Leading practices for resource benefit sharing and development for and with Indigenous communities
OECD Regional Development Papers, 2020
This OECD working paper summarises leading practices for benefit sharing, workforce development, and business and governance development for and with Indigenous peoples. This work has been informed by the OECD’s programme of work on Linking Indigenous Communities with Regional Development, on Mining Regions and Cities and on Indigenous Employment and Skills Strategies. This working paper specifically aims to inform the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Cities and Regional Development of Australia. The paper covers six key policy areas: i) Indigenous benefits funds and benefit sharing agreements, ii) Indigenous governance, iii) Indigenous entrepreneurship, iv) Indigenous education and training, v) Indigenous employment, and vi) Indigenous community programmes.
Canadian Journal of Development Studies / Revue canadienne d'études du développement
Mining generates risk of environmental and social harm for Indigenous peoples but can also generate substantial revenues for them, creating opportunities for community development in a context where economic and social disadvantage is the norm. Especially as mining revenues should, in part, compensate for mining's negative social and environmental impacts, it is vital that mineral taxation on Indigenous lands reflect a careful assessment of appropriate tax mechanisms and a matching of these with community priorities. Yet little has been written that could serve as a guide for Indigenous decision-makers. This article contributes to an understanding of the issues and choices facing Indigenous communities in designing mineral taxation regimes, by focusing on the question of economic risk. Risk arises as a key variable in choosing or designing a mineral taxation regime in three ways. Different approaches to mineral taxation are inherently more or less risky, in the sense that they are more or less certain to generate tax revenues. A second aspect of risk involves the degree of economic certainty or predictability associated with different types of commodities and projects. Third, the risk tolerance of Indigenous peoples and communities can vary significantly. We show how Indigenous groups can integrate and address these different dimensions of risk, by recognizing the 'risk consequences' associated with different approaches to mineral taxation and choosing an approach that reflects, as fully as possible, the group's risk tolerance.
Impact and Benefit Agreements: A Contentious Issue for Environmental and Aboriginal Justice
Impact and benefit agreements (IBAs) have become a common part of a standard package of agreements negotiated between an industrial proponent and a representative aboriginal organization. Among other things, IBAs recognize aboriginal peoples' interests with the land and parallel more broadly with the corporate social responsibility phenomena. IBAs seek to establish a bond based on consultation and support of both parties in a mineral development scenario. Challenges facing IBAs include their confidential nature and their relationship to conventional environmental assessment (EA). IBAs go beyond the regulatory and advisory EA processes and often find themselves in conflict due to overlapping objectives and blurred boundaries. IBAs can perpetuate injustices if benefits are not equally distributed to the community or if monitoring and follow-up on behalf of both parties are not continuous. To consider both challenges and opportunities, brief descriptions and comparison of IBAs and EAs are discussed and questions regarding the advantages of IBAs are considered.
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2016
Under the Radar: The Role of Fair and Equitable Benefit-sharing in Protecting and Realizing Human Rights connected to Natural Resources International environmental law and international human rights law are increasingly cross-fertilizing with regard to the rights of indigenous peoples 1 and local communities over natural resources traditionally used by them. 2 As a result, fair and equitable benefit-sharing from the use of these natural resources is becoming increasingly relevant to prior environmental and socio-cultural assessments and consent processes. This cross-fertilization, 3 however, remains under-explored. Benefit-sharing has elicited little interest among international human rights lawyers, 4 who have concentrated their efforts on the complex and still unsettled notion of free prior informed consent (FPIC) 5 and difficulties in obtaining meaningful and appropriate compensation for harm caused by extractive activities. 6 In addition, benefit-sharing is often perceived as a threat to the rights of indigenous peoples. It is associated with an offer of money or other economic advantage (for instance, employment) in exchange for obtaining consent, 7 which "encourages a climate of disrespect towards indigenous peoples." 8 Benefit-sharing has resulted in "attempts to undermine social cohesion of affected communities" through bribes to community leaders or selective negotiations tactics. 9 In particular, monetary benefit-sharing is known to "destruct the social network" of indigenous groups, 10 putting in place self-defeating or paternalistic mechanisms that are not responsive to communities' specific needs. 11 Regional human rights bodies have thus had occasion to point out to situations in which promised benefit-sharing were not delivered, 12 or benefit-sharing arrangements were originally in place but broke down, and/or were weakened by ineffective State monitoring of outsiders' activities. 13
Indigenous Peoples, Natural Resources and Governance
2021
This book offers multidisciplinary perspectives on the changing relationships between states, indigenous peoples and industries in the Arctic and beyond. It offers insights from Nordic countries, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Russia to present different systems of resource governance and practices of managing industry-indigenous peoples' relations in the mining industry, renewable resource development and aquaculture. Chapters cover growing international interest on Arctic natural resources, globalization of extractive industries and increasing land use conflicts. It considers issues such as equity, use of knowledge, development of company practices, conflictsolving measures and the role of indigenous institutions.
Ecosystem Services, 2019
Many local and Indigenous communities across the globe afford ecosystem services to the wider global public through maintaining natural resources because of their duteous usage and astute management. However there is barely any recognition or financial support for them to continue maintaining or enhancing the flow of ecosystem services from their finely managed Indigenous and local lands. This paper offers insights using three case studies from the Oceania-Asia region-i.e. Australia, India and Fiji-that supports the highest Indigenous and local communities population. It describes the main cultural values and traditions, and land rights of Indigenous and local communities in relation to their natural systems, and the key issues and challenges that people experience in their respective regions. Lack of recognition of peoples' land rights, unregulated and exploitative use of resources, and inequitable distribution of benefits that accrue to private (often corporate) enterprises from using natural resources were the common issues among all case studies. To support conservative use and management of Indigenous and local lands, this paper argues to establish monetary mechanisms i.e. Payments for Ecosystem Services, Green Funds, Common Trusts, etc. to enable Indigenous and local communities to continue managing natural resources for the greater public benefit.
Human Ecology, 2015
The unique aspect of this collection is its lack of focus either on any particular extractive industry group, or on any specific geographic region, political system or level of development. The papers cover examples from the mineral, oil, timber, fish and gemstone industries for a range of countries from Sub-Saharan Africa to northern Canada to present a global snapshot of resource extraction practices and their impact on local populations. The broad range of settings presented in the book is matched by the diversity of backgrounds that comprise its authorship; an eclectic array that includes economists, lawyers, indigenous advisors, engineers, anthropologists, and others that bring together a notable diversity of knowledge and experience. Although an initial reading of this far ranging book can be something of a peripatetic endeavour, its breadth of subject matter offers a great deal of comparative opportunity that is the book's main strength and source of value. One way to read the book is therefore to divide its chapters according to models of governance that are a critical feature of the cases presented. Somewhat surprisingly the book opens with an example of a lead and zinc mine in a modern, wealthy, democratic nation: the US state of Alaska. The second chapter takes the reader to another Bwealthy, developed country^(p. 37) and the Century zinc mine in Queensland, Australia. Notwithstanding the claim that the developed country status of the Australian example is Bunlike the cases considered in other chapters^(p. 37), the third * Michael Main
Indigenous Peoples, Resource Extraction and Sustainable Development: An Ethical Approach
Journal of Business Ethics, 2005
Resource extraction companies worldwide are involved with Indigenous peoples. Historically these interactions have been antagonistic, yet there is a growing public expectation for improved ethical performance of resource industries to engage with Indigenous peoples. (Crawley and Sinclair, Journal of Business Ethics 45, 361-373 (2003)) proposed an ethical model for human resource practices with Indigenous peoples in Australian mining companies. This paper expands on this work by re-framing the discussion within the context of sustainable development, extending it to Canada, and generalizing to other resource industries. We argue that it is unethical to sacrifice the viability of Indigenous cultures for industrial resource extraction; it is ethical to engage with indigenous peoples in a manner consistent with their wishes and needs as they perceive them. We apply these ideas to a case study in the coastal temperate rainforest of Clayoquot Sound, British Columbia, Canada. In this case a scientific panel comprised of Nuu-Chah-Nulth elders, forest scientists and management professionals, achieved full consensus on developing sustainable forest practice standards by drawing equally on Indigenous traditional ecological knowledge and Western science in the context of one of the most heated and protracted environmental conflicts in Canadian history. The resulting sustainable forest practice standards were later adopted by leading forestry firms operating on the coast. Our analysis of this scientific panel's success provides the basis for advancing an ethical approach to sustainable development with Indigenous peoples. This ethical approach is applicable to companies working in natural resource industries where the territories of Indigenous peoples are involved.