Takeaways: IIPWG December 2025 Newsletter

Items excerpted from the December 2025 Investors & Indigenous Peoples Working Group (IIPWG) Newsletter. IIPWG strategy calls take place the third Thursday of the month. Learn more.

Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Language Adopted in Just Transition Work Programme at COP30

Bryan Bixcul, Global Coordinator at the SIRGE Coalition, debriefed IIPWG from his participation in negotiations at the 30th annual UN climate conference (COP30). One major accomplishment from Indigenous leadership was rights-based language adopted in the Just Transition Work Programme (JTWP), specifying:

“The importance of the rights of Indigenous Peoples and of obtaining their free, prior and informed consent in accordance with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the importance of ensuring that all just transition pathways respect and promote the internationally recognized collective and individual rights of Indigenous Peoples, including the rights to self-determination, and acknowledge the rights and protections for Indigenous Peoples in voluntary isolation and initial contact, in accordance with relevant international human rights instruments and principles…”

Bixcul noted this is some of the strongest language on Indigenous Peoples’ rights ever adopted in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). He shared how investors can use this language to encourage multilateral banks and investors to align with UNFCCC outcomes and robust human rights due diligence. You may find additional COP30 outcomes in Bixcul’s article for SIRGE.

Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Engagement Updates 

Participants discussed updates on Indigenous Peoples’ rights engagements at General Motors [NYSE:GM], Chevron [NYSE: CVX], Rio Tinto [ASX: RIO], Marriott International [NASDAQ: MAR]. Among the updates, Investor Advocates for Social Justice shared the shareholder resolution investors filed at Chevron that is focused on Indigenous Peoples’ rights and FPIC. 

Debriefs on PRI Advance and UN Forum on Business and Human Rights

Participants debriefed recent events, including the session “Indigenous Rights, Land Use, and De/Reforestation” at PRI in Person (Nov. 4-6) and the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights (UN FBHR) (Nov. 24-26). 

You can watch session recordings from the UN FBHR. Sessions concerning Indigenous Peoples include:

• From Exploitation to Empowerment: Indigenous Rights and Leadership, Business and Climate Action

• Innovating Pathways to Justice and Effective Remedy: A Deep Dive into Certification and Verification Schemes

• The Critical Role of Human Rights Defenders in Seeking Solutions to Environmental and Social Harms in the Context of Business Activities

See also statements from the Forum by Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact and Indigenous Peoples Rights International.

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