We won’t develop projects without participants engaging in FPIC — free, prior and informed consent. But what is it and why do we need it?
FPIC stands for free, prior and informed consent — a principle and practice embedded across community engagement and development work globally.
It’s also an approach Nakau and our local partners prioritise when establishing a carbon project to ensure the consent of the Indigenous Peoples and communities we collaborate with is genuine and that land and carbon rights remain with customary landowners.
How do we define FPIC?
In Nakau-based carbon projects, FPIC is considered an outcome and a process.
The outcome is the right of Indigenous Peoples to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to a project that impacts them.
The process is the decision-making steps and framework that project coordinators follow to enable Indigenous Peoples control in any decision that may affect their lands, territories or livelihoods.
The four principles of FPIC – free, prior, informed and consent are interlinked and should not be treated separately. For Nakau and our local partners these principles mean:
1. Free from force, intimidation, manipulation, coercion or pressure.
2. Prior where Indigenous Peoples and communities are consulted before project activities begin.
3. Informed where people are well informed about the project and their rights before being asked to consent or decide. Information should:
- Be provided in a language and form that is clearly understood.
- Cover the nature, scope, purpose, duration and locality of the project or activity as well as stakeholders, areas that will be affected, and the economic, social, cultural and environmental impacts.
- Explain their involvement and the procedures within the project or activity.
- Update changes or share new information
When people do not understand the information, then they are not informed.
4. Consent where Indigenous Peoples, customary landowners and local communities are able to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’, and must be consulted and participate in an honest and open process of negotiation that ensures:
- All parties are equal, no-one having more power or strength.
- Indigenous-led group decision-making processes are allowed to operate.
- Indigenous Peoples’ right to choose how they want to live is respected.
Why do we need FPIC?
Nakau is committed to a rights-based and locally led approach. We believe that when FPIC is not followed or the process has been rushed, projects are at risk of failure and conflict, and benefits may not reach everyone in a community. There is also the risk expectations may be set too early.
To mitigate these risks, all project decision-making must be clear, transparent and controlled by customary landowners and their community. This is where a high FPIC standard and working at the speed of trust with a community is critical.
We take time to sit, listen and make a project together that works with culture and meets community needs.
What are the steps in FPIC?
Working with an FPIC approach can take time. We allow 2-3 years to develop a project, and this might include 20-30 community meetings to unpack all the information and for a community to decide to proceed.
FPIC steps will include:
Consultation meetings to share information. These include land-use planning workshops, benefit-sharing sessions and public FPIC meetings. There are no set number of consultation meetings — it takes as many as it takes.
Validate the consultation process by clarifying consultation outcomes with agreed community members from tribal associations, family groups and other group representatives, such as women’s groups.
Formal FPIC decision-making where agreed representatives have the right to grant each FPIC decision on behalf of project participants. These decisions must be documented and community consultation information shared with decision-makers. They should also be presented with a list of all details requiring consent and evidence of FPIC must be recorded.
- Decision-makers might include members from landowner groups, tribal associations, Council of Chiefs.
- Details to present might include management plans, project agreements and project designs.
- Evidence of FPIC might include signed documents, meeting minutes, photos and kastom evidence.
To learn more about how Nakau develops carbon projects, see the Climate Change and Carbon Education Toolkit and our Carbon Fact Sheet booklet.
Illustrations: Nick Mattiske/Live and Learn