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Adopted in 2007 following decades of Indigenous-led advocacy, the establishes the international consensus on the minimum standards to uphold the survival, dignity, and well-being of Indigenous Peoples. Indigenous Peoples across the globe lead the Declaration’s implementation and call on companies to uphold the framework as a mechanism to include Indigenous Peoples at the decision-making table.

Indigenous leaders discussed implementation of the Declaration, recent intellectual property developments, and guidance for investors in the webinar Leveraging the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Shareholder Advocacy (). Presented by the Investors & Indigenous Peoples Working Group (IIPWG), with support from First Peoples Worldwide, the webinar took place on June 20, 2024. 

“Self-determination is the north star,” said Kate Finn, Executive Director of First Peoples Worldwide in her introduction to the webinar and the rights enumerated in the Delcaration. “It means that [Indigenous Peoples] can freely… pursue their economic, social, and cultural development according to their own priorities.” 

The Declaration enshrines the wide breadth of Indigenous Peoples’ individual and collective rights, including rights to culture, identity, education, health, employment, language, and more. Finn emphasized that the Declaration underscores the importance of “respecting the direct input of Indigenous Peoples in decision-making.”  

Indigenous Communities’ Implementation of the Declaration 

Indigenous Peoples are at the forefront of implementing the Declaration. “The level of success and progress that we have seen built on the Declaration is incredibly noteworthy,” said moderator Jonas Kron, the Chief Advocacy Officer at Trillium Asset Management. 

Lesle Jansen, the incoming Executive Director of the African Communities Resource Rights Alliance (ACRRA), shared how the Khoi and San communities hold deep knowledge of plants for medicinal and livelihood purposes, including rooibos–a plant endemic to the region and deeply embedded in their cultures. As a rooibos-based industry developed, the Khoi and San communities asserted their right to control, maintain, and develop their traditional knowledge of the plant, which is a right enshrined in the Declaration.

The communities’ advocacy resulted in court confirmation of the Indigenous communities as the original knowledge holders and a flagship benefit-sharing agreement with the rooibos industry. According to Jansen, the agreement was “an important breakthrough” and created a basis for the communities “to secure other rights to other plant species they’re traditional knowledge holders to.” The industry’s annual gross value of production is between $7 million and $16.5 million and the industry pays a 1.5% levy on the farm gate price, which has resulted in three payments to the Khoi and San communities, each between $276 thousand and $827 thousand. 

Pablo Mis, Executive Director of the Julian Cho Society, discussed the Maya community’s decades-long advocacy to secure land rights in Belize. In 2007, a court referenced the Declaration in a land rights case, stating “the Declaration is of such a force that Belize, who voted for it, will not disregard.” In 2015, the community’s litigation resulted in the highest court in the country affirming Maya land rights. To guide the country’s policy-making, “we look up to instruments that have been established internationally,” said Mis.

While the court rulings set significant precedence, the Maya community continues its advocacy as Belize’s weak governmental implementation limits positive outcomes for communities on the ground that seek to manage ancestral territories. “Every time we’re engaging with a new company, a new business, we have to go back. We have to remind the government of what’s in the decision,” shared Mis.

Mis discussed tailoring the principles of Indigenous Peoples’ right to free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) to the community level, stating that “the bottom line for us is that we need to be able to put in place effective mechanisms for meaningful engagements that build trust and collaboration between partners.”

He asserted that businesses interested in partnering with his community must recognize that “the Maya peoples, like all Indigenous Peoples, have a right to fully be a part of the process of defining how we wish to manage, how we wish to develop our lands.” 

Intellectual Property Landscape Shifts Towards Alignment with the Declaration

Aaron Jones, Interim Natural & Cultural Resources Director at the Tulalip Tribes of Washington, explained that “knowledge is collectively held, so it’s not necessarily just one individual that has a right to determine what happens with traditional knowledge.”

Jones highlighted that the recent World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is a major advancement for the implementation of the Declaration. The treaty requires patent applications to disclose the country of origin and associated traditional knowledge if they utilize genetic resources and is a mechanism to “hold clear, fraudulent intent accountable with sanctions.” 

Jones noted the treaty is “the first-ever treaty within WIPO that acknowledges Indigenous Peoples’ rights.” While it does not require obtaining FPIC, Jones remarked that the treaty “encourages contracting parties to achieve the aims of the Declaration” and urged companies to advance FPIC voluntarily. He emphasized the significance of Indigenous Peoples’ participation from all seven socio-cultural regions in the treaty negotiations, asserting that “our voice should be equivalent to that of another sovereign, as self-determined Peoples.”

Investor Guidance on Forwarding the Declaration

To leverage the Declaration to protect the full extent of Indigenous Peoples’ rights and self-determination, the presenters provided additional guidance to investors and companies. 

Jansen called for industries to educate themselves on communities, including understanding historical contexts, national legislation, and community organization. Jones noted that Indigenous Peoples exist across the world and urged companies to take the opportunity to work with them directly.

Both Jansen and Mis highlighted the FPIC protocols developed by their communities as an opportunity to build rights-based partnerships. Kron emphasized the role of investors in “engaging with companies… and helping them understand the importance of doing it right.” 

“Indigenous Peoples have shown that we have good faith,” Mis shared. He asserted that businesses have a responsibility in “bridging the legacy of adversarial relationships between Indigenous Peoples and the states.” 

“We’re not only thinking of now, but we’re also thinking about our children and our children’s children that are coming ahead of us,” Mis said.