Gender Impact Analysis of Impact Benefit Agreements: Representation Clauses UNDRIP

Abstract

As a general rule, Indigenous feminist scholarship is inimical to large-scale resource extraction taking precedence over environmental stewardship, human rights protection, the integrity of Indigenous laws, and Indigenous understandings of gender equality. We argue here that the use of Impact Benefit Agreements (IBA) to facilitate large-scale resource extraction renders them subject to similar scrutiny. In this chapter, the authors interrogate the prospect posed by law reformists that IBAs are mechanisms where concerns about inequality and inequity could be mitigated. As devices used to literally represent community consent and implement substantive terms that predict measurable positive outcomes, this type of study is key to identifying the circumstances under which IBAs could deliver more equitable outcomes and, for those who resist their adoption, those circumstances where they cannot reconcile fundamental values.

Keywords: Indigenous, Women, Impact Benefit Agreements, Indigenous Law, Representations & Warranties