25. In Norway, the Environmental Information Act includes provisions for public participation in environmental decision-making, while the Planning and Building Act provides extensive opportunities for residents to advocate for local plans that advance sustainability. A national guide to public participation in planning was published in 2014, with special attention paid to the protection of the interests of vulnerable groups. In 2018, Norway adopted a new Local Government Act, which requires all local and regional authorities to establish three councils, to represent young people, older persons and persons with disabilities. Norway also formalized a consultation procedure with the Sami indigenous people in 2005, fulfilling the right of indigenous peoples to participate in decision-making processes.

28. Honduras enacted a new law in 2015, establishing a national protection mechanism to safeguard the rights of human rights defenders, journalists and judges. Associated regulations were adopted in 2016. The Office of the Special Prosecutor for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, Journalists, Media Professionals and Justice Officials was established in 2018 with six prosecutors, four assistant prosecutors, and 10 investigators (see A/HRC/40/60/Add.2). These positive steps were taken to respond to the murders of hhighprofile defenders, and implement recommendations made by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. In 2019, seven men were sentenced to at least 30 years in jail for their role in the murder of Berta Cáceres, an indigenous environmental defender.

29. In Peru, the national human rights plan for 2018–2021 highlights the vital work of human rights defenders. In 2019, the Ministry of Justice drafted a protocol guaranteeing the protection of human rights defenders. The objectives are to promote the recognition of human rights defenders, to take specific protection measures for those at risk, to work towards the implementation of preventive measures, and to ensure prompt and effective investigation of threats against defenders. In the first case of its kind, prosecutors are seeking a 35-year jail sentence for two businessmen and three loggers implicated in the murder of four indigenous environmental human rights defenders.

57. Nationally determined contributions comprise the commitments made by States pursuant to the Paris Agreement on a five-year cycle. In the first cycle, 24 such contributions incorporated human rights. Seventeen States committed to taking a rights-based approach to climate action: the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Brazil, Chad, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Georgia, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Malawi, the Marshall Islands, Mexico, Morocco, the Philippines, South Sudan and Uganda. Seven States – Cuba, El Salvador, Indonesia, Nepal, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Yemen and Zimbabwe – identified human rights as a key element of the legal context in which actions would be taken. Nationally determined contributions from more than 50 States address gender issues, participation and the empowerment of women, while those from 19 other States include references to indigenous peoples and/or traditional knowledge.

72. The Global Environment Facility established an indigenous peoples advisory group and an indigenous peoples fellowship programme. These are important first steps towards increasing flows of climate finance to indigenous peoples.

103. Humanity depends on nature for a vast range of products and ecological services, from food, fibre and medicine to pollination, clean air, water and soil. Human rights may be jeopardized by lack of access to nature’s bounty or by actions taken to protect nature that fail to take rights into consideration (see A/HRC/34/49). Globally, wildlife populations have declined by 60 per cent since 1970, and as many as 1 million species are at risk of extinction. The decline or disappearance of a particular species could have a devastating impact on an indigenous community and their rights. The creation of a new protected area without tthe consultation and consent of indigenous peoples or local communities could, however, violate their rights (see A/71/229).

109. Laws that recognize the land rights of indigenous peoples and local communities have recently been passed by Kenya (the Community Land Act of 2016), Mali (Agricultural Land Law of 2017) and Zambia (Forest Act of 2015). Indigenous peoples and local communities are more likely to invest in the good management of forests, soil and water if they have clear user rights and security against eviction. They are more likely to invest in improving yields on existing land and less likely to extend cultivation into marginal or forest areas. Forests that are legally owned and/or designated for use by indigenous peoples and local communities deliver a wide range of ecological and social benefits, including lower rates of deforestation and forest degradation, greater investments in forest restoration and maintenance, improved biodiversity conservation, lower carbon emissions and more carbon storage, reduced conflict, and poverty reduction.

110. The Maya Biosphere Reserve in Guatemala is one of the world’s most biodiverse areas. To help to conserve the reserve, the Government gave nine local communities land concessions so they can make a sustainable living from the forest. The concessions have generated more than $5 million in annual revenue, as well as jobs for local community members. The forest concessions have had a near-zero deforestation rate for the past 14 years. According to research, there is a positive relationship between socioeconomic progress (income, investments, savings, capitalization of community enterprises, and asset building at the household and enterprise levels) and conservation of the concession areas.