Indigenous Peoples and Multiscalar Environmental Governance: The Opening and Closure of Participatory Spaces

There has been an unprecedented inclusion of Indigenous peoples in environmental governance instruments like free, prior, and informed consent; reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) projects; climate adaptation initiatives; and environmental impact assessment. We draw on theories of participatory governance to show how locally implemented processes have been shaped by their interactions with invited, closed, and indigenous-led spaces at multiple scales. Empirically, our article is based on field research in Latin America, semistructured interviews, and a systematic literature review. We find four main barriers that have (re-)produced environmental injustices in environmental governance: first, a lack of influence over the institutional design of governance instruments; second, the exclusion of Indigenous peoples in the domestication of global instruments; third, policy incoherencies constraining the scope for decision-making; and fourth, weak cross-scale linkages between Indigenous-led spaces. This article helps to elucidate constraints of participatory spaces and identify leeway for transformation toward environmental justice.

Automated summary

There is unprecedented inclusion of Indigenous peoples in environmental governance, but they face multiple barriers. These barriers include insufficient influence over the institutional design of governance instruments, exclusion in the domestication of global instruments, policy incoherencies limiting decision-making scope, and weak cross-scale linkages between Indigenous-led spaces.