Pitfalls and Pipelines - Philippine Indigenous Peoples Links

Chapter 2.8: Importance of Free, Prior and Informed Consent
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impacts of mining. Ms Jubitana pointed that a community has
to decide for itself what they want to see in terms of similar
processes, and suggested that having exchange visits with
other mining impacted indigenous peoples was one way to
address the issue.
2.8.3 Conclusion
Extractive industry companies place increasing emphasis
on community engagement as part of their corporate responsibility.
They however engage with communities in an inconsistent
manner and rarely comply with the standards necessary
for the respect of indigenous peoples’ rights, interests and
well-being. Indigenous peoples consider that free, prior and
informed consent (FPIC), as embodied in the UNDRIP, is the
minimum standard that mining companies should work to.
FPIC is now widely recognized by a broad range of international
bodies as the standard for engagement with indigenous
peoples in the context of large-scale mining operations. 22
As noted in Chapter 2.3, the most recent advance is that
the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC)
in May 2011 finally accepted that its safeguard mechanisms
adopt the principle of FPIC, informed by the UNDRIP. This
will have huge repercussions outside of the IFC’s immediate
lending as their safeguards form the basis of other guidelines,
such as the Equator Bank Principles. While changes in
national legislation in various jurisdictions are necessary for
widespread adoption of the principle, the absence of such legislation
does not prevent mining companies from incorporating
it into their policies and practices.
To date the extractive industries have lagged behind in
fully accepting FPIC in principle or in practice. Much more
needs to be done in the light of sound arguments that it is
likely to cost companies more than they save from disregarding
FPIC. 23