Ensure the full, equitable, inclusive, effective and gender-responsive representation and participation in decision-making, and access to justice and information related to biodiversity by indigenous peoples and local communities, respecting their cultures and their rights over lands, territories, resources, and traditional knowledge, as well as by women and girls, children and youth, and persons with disabilities and ensure the full protection of environmental human rights defenders.
Introduction
Ensuring trustworthy and inclusive governance processes regarding the use and conservation of nature is beneficial for everyone. Meaningful participation, with opportunities for involvement, decision-making, and having one's voice heard in matters that affect oneself, is important. However, this is implemented to varying degrees around the world. To ensure legitimacy and understanding of the management of nature and natural resources, politicians, authorities, and managers must include all relevant user groups.
To ensure local anchoring and legitimacy, it is important that all relevant actors and professional communities are involved as early as possible in the process. They must be provided with real decision-making power, involvement, and opportunities for participation in terms of time, capacity, and resource needs. Credible, knowledge-based, and independent impact assessments are also crucial for democratic trust in complex processes.
Some development and conservation projects have experienced unpredictable processes because stakeholders have not been adequately involved in the early stages. A consultation phase should be introduced where all relevant stakeholders are involved at an early stage. This way, assessments can be targeted earlier and better, and poor or irrelevant projects can be quickly discarded.
Not enough attention has been given to the gendered dimensions and effects of the biodiversity- and climate crises. Due to gender norms and uneven power dynamics cemented in social, economic and political structures, gender inequality persists in all spheres of public and private life. For these reasons, the biodiversity- and climate crises affects women and girls in unique and disproportionate ways. Furthermore, due to intersecting power relations, including sexual orientation and gender identity, nationality, ethnicity, class, age, ability, etc., loss of biodiversity and climate change affects women and girls around the world differently.
Policy Proposals for National Implementation
Establish national legislation and regulations ensuring implementation of free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) in all management that may or will affect Indigenous Peoples and their legal as well as traditional rights.
Enhance participation in processes in local, regional, and national land management, including in impact assessment processes, where local and traditional area and ecosystem knowledge should be emphasised. Anchoring, legitimacy, predictability, and real decision-making must be ensured for all relevant stakeholders in all major processes, and they must be actively involved in the early consultation phase.
Strengthen the capacity and competence for assessments in all projects at all levels of management that affect biodiversity, and involvement and decision-making will contribute to ensuring that the decision-making basis is as good as possible, based on professionally independent surveys and updated ecological assessments.
Implement knowledge and certification requirements for the environments responsible for surveys and biological registrations. It is crucial for trust-based processes to avoid casting doubt on the quality and professional independence of assessments, biological surveys, and ecological assessments.
Adopt a strategy to strengthen the inclusion of marginalised groups including Indigenous Peoples in decision-making processes at all levels of management and policy formulation.
Specifically indicate in their respective NBSAPs how they will contribute to the achievement of this target in the implementation of the whole GBF.
Policy proposals for International Implementation
Establish mechanisms to ensure the full and meaningful participation by Indigenous Peoples and local communities in the establishment of international projects that can have an effect on biodiversity.
Establish mechanisms to ensure religious literacy when promoting biodiversity measures in contexts where religious and traditional leaders hold great authority.
Ensure that their international biodiversity finance always applies a human rights-based approach, include gender equality and child rights perspectives, and aim for strong local ownership. All finance providers need to improve integration and monitoring of respect for human rights and full participation of Indigenous Peoples and local communities in all biodiversity related decision-making, projects, programmes and policies.
Ensure the full protection of environmental human rights defenders.
Ensure that the rights of Indigenous Peoples as established under the UNDRIP, including the right to free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) and their rights over land, territories and resources is acknowledged and respected.
Advocate for the reformation of the International Seabed Authority to ensure a transparent, accountable, inclusive and environmentally responsible decision-making and regulatory process that fulfils the obligation to ‘benefit (hu)mankind as a whole’ and respects the Common Heritage of Mankind.