On 24 August, a two-stage consultation process between the Environment Ministry (MINAM) and the Unity Pact (representing seven Andean and Amazonian indigenous organisations) regarding the regulations for implementing Peru’s Climate Change Law concluded with an agreement involving partial or total acceptance of the 152 proposals presented by the indigenous organisations.

The proposals that formed the basis of the consultation were grouped into the following categories: safeguards, communal land and territories, food security, the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) agreed in international negotiations, access to climate change funding, the role of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), indigenous peoples’ participation, the instruments to be used for managing climate change, gender focus, and environmental education.

It was agreed that the final version of the regulations will include the following elements of concern to indigenous peoples: an indigenous climate platform to be created to promote indigenous proposals for adaptation and mitigation measures; existing indigenous mechanisms (such as REDD+IA) for reducing environmental gas emissions and deforestation; legal security for indigenous lands and territories; an intercultural focus in providing information and exercising citizen participation; and a commitment by MINAM to take actions against carbon piracy.

Nevertheless, several issues of importance to indigenous peoples were not fully included in the final agreement, including food security, an explicit mention of the fundamental role of indigenous women, and the incorporation of indigenous organisations into the National High-level Climate Change Commission (CNACC).

This consultation process has represented an important advance in the efforts of indigenous peoples to achieve, in practice, full implementation of free, prior and informed consent on the public policies that affect them, a right consecrated in ILO Agreement 169. It is also important to note the active and effective role played by the organisations representing indigenous women.