Nature Protection, Indigenous Rights, and Climate Action
Abstract
This chapter explores to what extent existing international legal instruments dealing with climate change have identified, reflected, and taken into consideration the rights of indigenous peoples on the one hand, and how indigenous peoples have developed their own nature-protection agreements and action on the other. We seek to clarify the link between the climate-law framework and the human and non-human rights-based framework pertaining to indigenous peoples. Part 1 offers an analysis of the environmental and climate law3 applicable to indigenous peoples, exploring the weaknesses and strengths in relation to indigenous environmental justice. Part 2 scrutinizes several cases of human rights-based climate-change litigation involving indigenous peoples. The chapter finishes with some concluding remarks.