"Using the new EU rules to support our rights – a guide for indigenous peoples and forest peoples," 27 November 2024

This guide presents some of the most important information for indigenous and forest peoples regarding two new pieces of legislation passed by the EU which may provide better avenues for recourse/remedy for communities. 

Indigenous peoples and forest peoples are frequently confronted with human rights violations and environmental damage caused by companies. Companies take indigenous peoples’ and forest peoples’ lands for agriculture, mining or other activities, often to sell to international markets. There are often very limited options for recourse against corporate actors for the harm they cause, either at the local level or the international level.

The EU has recently passed two pieces of legislation that may provide some more options to indigenous peoples and forest peoples who suffer human rights and environmental impacts caused by companies linked to the EU.

The first, the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), places conditions on the sale in the EU of commodities closely linked to deforestation. It requires companies to conduct due diligence on their supply chains to ensure certain commodities they import to the EU have not led to deforestation and that they have been produced lawfully.

The second, the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), imposes obligations on (very) large companies based in or operating in the EU to conduct human rights and environmental due diligence. This means they must identify, assess and address human rights and environmental impacts linked to their value chains.

While neither piece of legislation resolves all the problems with companies’ behaviour, they both offer potential avenues for recourse and/or remedy in some circumstances. This short guide explains some of the key elements of each piece of legislation, including when and how they may be useful to indigenous peoples and forest peoples.

The guide aims to pull out the most important information for indigenous peoples and forest peoples, but it doesn’t cover everything. Fuller details can be found in the legislation and in other publications.