On 8 December, Natural Justice and the Centre for Indigenous Knowledge and Organisational Development (CIKOD) made a joint submission on ‘Large-Scale, Industrial Methods of Extraction, Production, and Development and their Impacts on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities’ to the UN Working Group on the Issue of Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises.

The submission documents the varied and significant negative impacts of industrial extraction of natural resources, large‐scale energy and infrastructure development projects, and industrial production systems such as agriculture and fishing on Indigenous peoples and local communities. These impacts include, among others, the violation of human rights, environmental destruction, disempowerment, poverty, displacement, and adverse effects on health, local development, cultures, and tradition.

The submission then elaborates the protections of the international rights of Indigenous peoples and local communities most often violated when companies or governments engage in such activities. It also describes some of the challenges faced by different stakeholders in following these obligations and details some of the work done by communities to proactively assert their rights.

Finally, the submission closes with specific recommendations to the Working Group to ensure Indigenous peoples and local communities are guaranteed the fullest legal protection in these situations.

Download the full submission here. Find other legal submissions by Natural Justice here.