The human rights blindspot in deforestation action

Successful action to tackle deforestation requires effective action on the human rights abuses associated with it. But too often this is not happening.

On average, a person was killed every other day in 2022 for defending their land or environment. Over a third (36%) of land defenders killed in 2022 were Indigenous Peoples.

Action on human rights goes hand-in-hand with ending deforestation, as Indigenous Peoples have a critical role to play in protecting nature. There is 50 percent less deforestation on Indigenous lands.

Forest 500 assesses companies and financial institutions on seven core human rights issues that are critical to ensuring supply chains are free from deforestation and ecosystem conversion. These are:

• Customary rights to land, resources and territory
• Labour rights
• Smallholder inclusion
• Violence and threats against forest, land and human rights defenders;
• Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC)
• Gender equality
• Remediation of abuses and deforestation

Three of these human rights issues are particularly critical to preventing deforestation and conversion from taking place, because violations of these rights typically happen around the point of deforestation. These are: (1) the requirement for FPIC; (2) respect for customary rights to land, resources and territory; and (3) zero tolerance for violence and threats against forest, land and human rights defenders.

Key findings

Testing for FPIC is a critical way companies must engage with Indigenous Peoples and local communities before making any new acquisitions or developments.

• 40% of Forest 500 companies have a publicly available FPIC commitment in place for at least one commodity. This has more than doubled since 2014 (16%).
• 71% of those companies with at least one FPIC commitment are transparently publishing evidence of their efforts to implement that commitment through their supply chains.
• 31% of financial institutions have published a policy encouraging or requiring their clients/holdings to test for FPIC of Indigenous Peoples and of local communities, compared to just 13% in 2014.

Companies must also commit to respecting customary rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities to land, resources and territory and have a zero-tolerance approach to violence and threats against forest, land and human rights defenders.

• 91% of Forest 500 companies do not have a single publicly available commitment to refrain from any land developments or acquisitions until any conflicts relating to customary rights to land, resources and territory in their supply chains sourcing regions have been resolved.
• 91% of Forest 500 financial institutions do not encourage or require their clients/holdings to respect these rights either.

Recommendations for policymakers, companies and financial institutions:

• International agreements, frameworks and efforts must require corporates and financiers to address the human rights abuses that precede or accompany deforestation and ecosystem conversion.
• An effective company commitment tests for and secures the FPIC of potentially affected Indigenous Peoples and/or local communities prior to acquiring land or resources and prior to new developments or expansions.
• A good financial institution deforestation policy doesn’t just encourage clients and holdings to act on human rights: it requires them to do so.

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