A/HRC/54/31 IV. Growing recognition of the role of Indigenous Peoples in the transition to a green economy A. Renewable energy 39. The finance sector is expected to increasingly fund projects related to the transition to renewable energy, such as hydropower, wind farms and the mining of lithium for batteries. The transition is both urgently necessary to respond to climate change and is expected to support economic growth. Regulation of such projects at the national level must ensure respect for and protection of Indigenous Peoples, including in terms of access to energy and inclusiveness.51 Financial actors should recognize that renewable energy projects are often located on or near Indigenous territories52 and should undertake human rights due diligence to address all actual and potential negative impacts of their projects on Indigenous Peoples and identify, assess and address all the risks to rights holders. 40. Financial actors should be especially cautious when investing in projects such as lithium mining, a sector frequently fast-tracked to accelerate the transition to electric vehicles, too often without due regard for the rights of Indigenous Peoples. Inadequate and non-participatory environmental and social impact assessments, lack of free, prior and informed consent, insufficient or non-existent remuneration of Indigenous Peoples on whose lands the mining sites are located, as well as negative health and environmental impacts from extraction through to battery disposal, have been reported as important issues for some Indigenous Peoples.53 41. Nomadic and semi-nomadic Indigenous Peoples are particularly at risk from energy transition and other green projects. In Africa and Europe, wind farms and geothermal projects have been undertaken without their free, prior and informed consent. 54 Too often, Governments and foreign investors assume that land used by nomadic herders and pastoralists is simply “empty”. Investors too often rely on formal registration of State or private ownership, or government assurances that land is available to use, when a diligent independent analysis prior to investment would have indicated that the land may be subject to the customary rights of Indigenous Peoples. 42. Indigenous Peoples have typically been excluded or marginalized in national energy distribution grids. Benefit-sharing should therefore be an important consideration in the funding of renewable energy projects. The Special Rapporteur has observed instances where electricity-generating projects failed to include a plan for distributing electricity to the Indigenous Peoples on whose land and resources the electricity was produced. Indigenous Peoples have sometimes even been required to buy the electricity produced on their lands at market prices.55 At the same time, funders should be aware that the promise of employment and other benefits offered to Indigenous Peoples to acquire their lands does not, in itself, constitute proper consultation for obtaining free, prior and informed consent. 43. The mandate has received numerous complaints concerning dams and associated infrastructures that were planned or implemented without the consent of Indigenous Peoples, causing their forced displacement or the degradation of their environment and means of sustenance. 56 Recent complaints involved a hydropower project in Nepal funded by the 51 52 53 54 55 56 GE.23-13366 See Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, general recommendation No. 39 (2022); and https://www.humanrights.dk/publications/womens-human-rights-energytransition-sub-saharan-africa-roundtable-event-outcome. See, for example, John R. Owen, Eleonore Lebre and Deanna Kemp, “Energy transition minerals (ETMs): a global dataset of projects”, University of Queensland data collection (2022), available from ttps://doi.org/10.48610/12b9a6e. See submission by the Shoshone Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley. See, for example, https://media.businesshumanrights.org/media/documents/Lake_Turkana_Wind_Power_Judgment_October_2021.pdf and https://www.domstol.no/globalassets/upload/hret/decisions-in-english-translation/hr-2021-1975-s.pdf. See Dan Chu, “Investing with tribal partners to create a climate safe world”, GreenMoney, (March 2020). See Submission by the Shoshone Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley. 11