Indigenous Rights and Resource Extraction: One Step Forward Two Steps Back

Following the adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP), there has been a proliferation of studies on indigenous rights in the context of natural resources extraction. The wide endorsement of the UNDRIP, however, did not solve a number of challenges related to resource extraction such as sovereignty over resources, access to justice, and local implementation. This commentary discusses such challenges, focusing on the UNDRIP’s effectiveness or lack of it.