A/HRC/54/31 biodiversity finance mechanisms 14 and increasingly the private sector (including large conservation organizations) 15 and public-private partnerships. International development finance institutions occupy an intermediary space between public aid and private investment. They are distinct from aid agencies through their focus on profitable investment and operations according to market rules but share a common focus on fostering economic growth and sustainable development. 16 In Africa, development finance plays a critical role in financing private enterprises and acts as a complement to overseas aid. 14. The complexity of green finance, as it relates to potential human rights violations, lies in the fact that it encompasses a variety of financial acts and objectives, including grants, loans, lucrative investments and speculation. It is often the product of interaction between multiple actors (States, international organizations, international development finance institutions and public and private banks), intermediaries (national development agencies or other national ministries, non-profit organizations and private entities) and the final recipients of the funding, as well as the interface of the project proponents with local populations. In addition, green finance can be official and public when loans are issued by States or international development finance institutions, or fully private (private banking investments, investments or purchases of carbon credits by private companies, conservation organizations) and is increasingly the product of public-private partnerships. In the midst of complex and sometimes undisclosed lines of funding, rights holders, such as Indigenous Peoples, have found it extremely difficult to challenge projects and hold actors accountable for the human rights violations they have experienced. 15. Host States, whether as borrower, co-financer or recipient of development aid, bear the primary responsibility for establishing appropriate institutional mechanisms and legal frameworks for protecting the rights of Indigenous Peoples in the development of green projects, even when international development finance institutions have safeguarding policies. Where host States do not recognize the status of Indigenous Peoples, or where national protection mechanisms or legal frameworks are not operational, other funders and donors will need to take additional precautionary measures to ensure that Indigenous Peoples are not negatively impacted by projects and ensure robust enforcement of their own safeguarding policies. In such cases, Indigenous Peoples may have to rely exclusively on the safeguarding policies of international finance institutions to seek redress. 16. States regulate the activities of private conservation organizations by requiring registration, regular reporting and monitoring, and compliance with relevant laws and regulations. In addition to regulatory oversight, States may also provide funding or other support to private conservation organizations in the form of grants, tax incentives or other financial incentives to support conservation efforts. Some countries have adopted national action plans on business and human rights to assist in the implementation of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and ensure that businesses, whether private or State-owned, respect human rights.17 17. States are also likely to become buyers of carbon credits in the voluntary market; for example, Norway, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America are part of the Lowering Emissions by Accelerating Forest finance coalition, a public-private partnership. States are responsible for establishing the rules defining who the carbon rights holders will be, whether such rights will acknowledge the forest and land ownership of Indigenous Peoples and how benefit-sharing will be arranged. 18. International development finance institutions are the financial actors that have received the most scrutiny for the impact of their projects on human rights, and on those of Indigenous Peoples in particular. As a result, they developed, early on, internal frameworks and policies for socially and environmentally responsible investment. However, efforts are still needed to secure greater participation of Indigenous Peoples in the design of policies and 14 15 16 17 GE.23-13366 The Global Environment Facility. The World Wildlife Fund, Wildlife Conservation Society, Conservation International Foundation and Nature Conservancy. Thomas Dickinson, “Development finance institutions: profitability promoting development”, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2019). Submission by the Indigenous Peoples of Africa Co-ordinating Committee. 5