Over the past decade, the language of climate ambition has grown louder, yet for many Indigenous Peoples the soundtrack of the “green” economy still feels like the old extractive anthem: minerals leave ancestral territories, turbines rise on sacred hillsides, and the promised benefits arrive—if they arrive at all—only after land, water, and culture have been compromised. A just transition must break that pattern. As Joan Carling, Executive Director of IPRI, said,
The global energy transition poses both opportunities and risks for Indigenous Peoples, as our lands and resources are key targets for this shift. Respecting and protecting our rights is non-negotiable. Indigenous Peoples are leading the fight against the climate crisis and must be recognized as invaluable and equal partners in the transition to renewable energy, with our rights and perspectives fully respected.[1]
Recent momentum is encouraging. The October 2024 resolution of the UN Human Rights Council on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples recognizes that “failing to consider the rights of Indigenous Peoples in the context of the just transition to sustainable energy systems could lead to further injustices, marginalization and discrimination, as well as the loss of their lands or territories and natural resources.”[2] Investors are starting to follow suit, steering capital toward projects that demonstrate Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) and away from those that do not. The Business & Human Rights Resource Centre’s Transition Minerals Tracker logged more company policy commitments in 2023 than in any previous year—even as it recorded 630 allegations of abuse across the value chain.[3] In principle, breaches of FPIC have shifted from being perceived as unethical to “very bad business”.[4]
But commentators remind us that a Just Transition for Indigenous Peoples is not limited to the questions of compensation but is a question of “survival, of rights, of relationships.” Far from being described in economic terms only, “there is no price tag on the bond between people and land, no metric that can measure a spiritual relationship with water, or a duty passed down through generations to protect biodiversity.”[5]For these reasons, a Just Transition must re-center the rights to self-determination, collective land and water tenure,[6]and FPIC enshrined in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and reaffirmed in jurisprudence, from the various UN treaty bodies interpreting universal human rights treaties to the rulings of regional human-rights systems.
[1] “Urgent need for renewable energy sector to embrace fair and equitable partnerships with Indigenous Peoples”, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, October 15, 2024, available at https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/from-us/media-centre/urgent-need-for-renewable-energy-sector-to-embrace-fair-and-equitable-partnerships-with-indigenous-peoples/
[2] Human rights and Indigenous Peoples, Human Rights Council, Resolution 57/15, October 11, 2024, U.N. Doc. A/HRC/RES/57/15, available at https://docs.un.org/en/A/HRC/RES/57/15
[3] “Transition Minerals Tracker: 2024 Analysis”, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, May 21, 2024, available at https://media.business-humanrights.org/media/documents/2024_Transition_Minerals_Tracker_EN.pdf
[4] Zbona, Ana, and Morales Garro, Alancay, “Why Indigenous Peoples’ rights must be at the heart of the transition to renewables”, Reuters, December 18, 2024, available at https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/society-equity/comment-why-indigenous-peoples-need-help-power-transition-renewables-2024-12-18/
[5] Angarova, Galina, and Escobar, Roman. “ What does a just transition look like for Indigenous Peoples?”, Debates Indígenas, June 1, 2025, available at https://debatesindigenas.org/en/2025/06/01/what-does-a-just-transition-look-like-for-indigenous-peoples
[6] Poma Poma vs.Peru, Communication Number 1457/2006, U.N. Doc. CCPR/C/95/D/1457/2006 (HRC 2009) https://www.worldcourts.com/hrc/eng/decisions/2009.03.27_Poma_Poma_v_Peru.htm
