22
Table 1: Information that may be needed (continued)
Information
Needed
The Company
Questions to be Answered
1. Who owns it?
2. Who are the investors?
3. What is its track record (that is, its
history in other areas or with other
peoples)?
4. What is its position on social and
environmental responsibility?
5. Who will represent the company in
negotiations, and how much power
do they have?
6. What groups or associations is the
company a member of?
Why they are Important
1. We should find out who the local company is and if it is
owned by a foreign company. The local company must
follow the parent company’s code of conduct. Knowing
what country a company comes from also gives us the
option to appeal to the embassy of that country if our
rights are violated;
2. Some investors, like the International Finance Corporation,
require companies they loan money to to take special steps
to protect Indigenous Peoples;
3. Do we want a company operating on our territory if it has a
bad track record for violating Indigenous rights and
polluting the environment? Probably not!
4. If a company has policies on social and environmental
responsibility, we can demand that they follow them;
5. The people that the company sends to negotiate with our
community should have the power to make decisions. They
should not just be someone from the public relations
department;
6. They may have higher standards than the company on its
own!
Sources of Information
Material from the
proponent, such as on
its website;
Meetings with the
proponent;
Project summaries or
documents filed with
the EPA or other
government agencies;
The media;
Internet searches.
Free, Prior and Informed Consent