Purpose & Summary

This document elaborates on the Accountability Framework’s Core Principle 2.1 regarding respect for the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities (IP/LC) in all production and trade activities. It also provides guidance relative to other Core Principles that have implications for these rights, such as Core Principle 7.1, addressing land conflict. In particular, this guidance focuses on the various fundamental rights of IP/LC that are often most vulnerable to impacts in agricultural and forestry supply chains, including the rights to property, culture, self-determination, life, and physical integrity as well as the related rights to self-governance, food security, and livelihoods. The guidance identifies specific measures that companies should take to:

1. Identify potential and actual adverse impacts to IP/LC rights;
2. Avoid undermining states’ duties to respect, promote, and protect these rights; and
3. Address situations in which the company caused or contributed to adverse impacts on IP/LC rights.