A/HRC/54/31 I. Introduction 1. The present report is submitted by the Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, José Francisco Calí Tzay, pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 51/16. The Special Rapporteur provides a brief summary of his activities since his previous report to the Council and a thematic study on green finance and its role in guaranteeing a just transition for Indigenous Peoples. II. Activities of the Special Rapporteur 2. In the past year, the Special Rapporteur has continued to carry out work within the scope of his mandate to examine ways and means of overcoming existing obstacles to the full and effective realization of the rights of Indigenous Peoples and to identify, exchange and promote best practices. He conducted academic visits to Argentina, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Peru and Sweden, during which he met with a number of Indigenous Peoples and authorities, as well as representatives of government and the international community. In 2023, the Special Rapporteur conducted two official country visits: to Denmark and Greenland from 1 to 10 February and to Canada from 1 to 10 March. 3. With a view to improving the effectiveness of and coordination between the existing bodies within the United Nations system with specific mandates relating to the rights of Indigenous Peoples, during the past year the Special Rapporteur participated in the annual meetings of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. He was a keynote speaker at a number of meetings and events organized by Member States, civil society and Indigenous Peoples, presenting his expertise and views on the protection of the rights of Indigenous Peoples in different parts of the world. He has continued to send communications jointly with other special procedure mandate holders to States and other relevant stakeholders, raising awareness of human rights issues and challenges affecting Indigenous Peoples. III. Green financing and the rights of Indigenous Peoples A. Background 4. The Special Rapporteur presents his report on green financing to update and build on the findings of previous work conducted by the mandate on the topic of climate finance, 1 international investment agreements2 and protected areas,3 with a focus on the accountability of financial actors. The Special Rapporteur compiled the report with information collected during his academic and official visits, as well as the submissions provided in response to a questionnaire addressed to States, international finance institutions, Indigenous Peoples’ organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), meetings with individual experts and a consultation held with Indigenous Peoples’ representatives on 26 May 2023.4 5. Green financing involves loans and investments for projects, programmes and initiatives that promote environmental sustainability and climate action. Green financing, as defined by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), “is to increase the level of financial flows (from banking, micro-credit, insurance and investment) from the public, private and not-for-profit sectors to sustainable development priorities”.5 Green financing is critical to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and the targets set by agreements 1 2 3 4 5 2 A/HRC/36/46. A/HRC/33/42. A/77/238. The submissions are available from https://www.ohchr.org/en/calls-for-input/2023/green-financingjust-transition-protect-indigenous-peoples-rights. https://www.unep.org/regions/asia-and-pacific/regional-initiatives/supporting-resourceefficiency/green-financing. GE.23-13366