Input to the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY International standards mandate working with Indigenous Peoples through Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC), but both States and businesses systematically fail to operationalize FPIC effectively. This input offers recommendations grounded in Indigenous legal systems and a regenerative business model. The prevailing business and human rights discourse frames FPIC primarily as a mechanism for distributing “benefits” to Indigenous Peoples affected by business operations. Under this view, FPIC becomes a checkbox process where businesses offer compensation packages—jobs, infrastructure, benefit-sharing—in exchange for Indigenous Peoples’ approval. The implicit assumption is that communities are “charity” actors who will consent when “benefits” outweigh costs. It reduces FPIC to a transactional exchange and transforms Indigenous communities from rights-holders into benefit-recipients. The “benefits” mythology creates several dangerous distortions. This input proposes a pathway: Embedding FPIC within Indigenous governance systems rather than imposing external consultation processes. This requires three shifts: (1) recognizing Indigenous law as the primary authority in Indigenous territories; (2) creating Indigenous-led governance of business activities; and (3) structuring diplomatic benefit negotiations to flow directly to Indigenous communities rather than intermediaries.