Free, Prior and Informed Consent: Consensus or Contention within the Corporate Domain?

This paper seeks to contribute to the limited Corporate Social Responsibility literature on the subject of indigenous peoples’ right to free, prior and informed consent to mining sector projects. Within the already contested field of corporate human rights responsibilities, free, prior and informed consent is a particularly controversial area, comprising as it does sensitive components of self-determination, group and cultural rights, and disputed land entitlements. The research establishes that the right has only penetrated the mining sector to a very limited extent and that the lack of consensus that exists both at an international and industry level regarding free, prior and informed consent is the likely cause of this. However, the paper does note that two companies are operationalising the right as part of their indigenous peoples’ engagement processes. This suggests an emerging area of best practice that is not constrained by the confusion found surrounding the right elsewhere and which potentially has important implications for the respect of indigenous peoples’ rights and protection of their dignity