Nested governance institutions, including IPLC authorities, are exercising decision-making at appropriate scales, ensuring whole-of-government and whole-of-society approaches that guarantee respect for human rights and diverse biodiversity and cultural values. These governance institutions are upgrading policy, legal and institutional transparency and accountability towards greater equity, wellbeing, sustainability and resilience for all.

Power inequalities in governance systems go hand in hand with imbalances in economic, social and ecological outcomes. Statist and market-based governance systems have implemented top-down economic development strategies, which have marginalised less powerful actors—including IPLCs, and their cultural values—from decision-making over land use and resource management.

Fragmentation of governmental decision-making into specialised sectors has privileged economic growth over environmental health and social wellbeing, contributing to the current interrelated crises of biodiversity loss, climate change and social inequalities.

Integrative, holistic, transparent and accountable governance institutions, upholding respect for human rights and equitable sharing of benefits, will be critical elements of the governance transition towards just and sustainable outcomes for peoples and planet.

Development approaches that take local conditions and cultures into account are likely to result in more context-sensitive and equitable outcomes, while enhancing ownership by target beneficiaries. Integrating culture into development policies and programmes fundamentally contributes to their effectiveness and sustainability.

The IPBES Global Assessment on Biodiversity and Ecosystems concluded that:

“Recognizing the knowledge, innovations, practices, institutions and values of indigenous peoples and local communities, and ensuring their inclusion and participation in environmental governance, often enhances their quality of life and the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of nature, which is relevant to broader society. Governance, including customary institutions and management systems and co-management regimes that involve indigenous peoples and local communities, can be an effective way to safeguard nature and its contributions to people by incorporating locally attuned management systems and indigenous and local knowledge.”²

A human-rights-based approach upholds the rights and dignity of the poor and marginalised sections of society, supports their diverse visions of a good life, addresses and manages conflicts, and unleashes the energy of collective actions and self-determination.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has set out a universal agenda for governments, businesses, all peoples, civil society and all citizens, an agenda that embeds the universal values of human rights and a pledge to leave no one behind. This principled foundation permeates the whole transformative agenda, encompassing global inequalities, biodiversity, climate change and associated challenges.

Several policy processes at the global level have adopted decisions recognising the contributions of traditional knowledge towards solving contemporary problems of biodiversity loss, climate change, disaster risk, deforestation and ecosystem degradation.³ However, there is a wide gap between increased recognition of the value of traditional knowledge in global policy and its continuing neglect and erosion on the ground. Indigenous and local knowledge and the important contributions of IPLCs are poorly reflected in most national biodiversity strategies and action plans, and in most national reporting processes to global agreements.⁴ Nonetheless, advances made in global conceptual and policy frameworks can also inform and crystallise developments in national policies and strategies, as illustrated in the cases of Earth jurisprudence and national indicators of wellbeing.

The UN General Assembly has initiated a deliberative process on ‘The Rights of Mother Earth’, focused on human norms that safeguard planetary functions and interests, also called ‘Earth Jurisprudence’, whereby: “Humans must adapt their legal, political, economic, and social systems to be consistent with the fundamental laws or principles that govern how the universe functions and guide humans to act in accordance with these, which means that human governance systems at all times must take account of the interests of the whole Earth community⁵”. Countries which have passed laws abiding by these principles include Ecuador, Bolivia, India and New Zealand.

Diverse conceptions and measures of wellbeing beyond gross domestic product and economic growth have been adopted and elaborated by several countries and peoples, including Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness Index⁷, the Ni-Vanuatu Well-being Survey⁸ and New Zealand’s Living Standards Framework.⁹

The UN General Assembly’s adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples provides norms and standards for indigenous peoples’ full and effective participation in the national and local implementation of global commitments, including in Bolivia’s constitution and the Philippines’ Indigenous Peoples Rights Act.

These international standards are alive and practised by indigenous peoples, such as the Wampis nation in Peru (see Box 57) and indigenous women from the Torres Strait in Australia (see Box 58).

• Embedding whole-of-government, whole-of-economy and whole-of-society participatory approaches in national implementation strategies and action plans on sustainable development, biodiversity and climate change; and devolving decision-making to the most appropriate level of competence and problem-solving.
• Continuing to reform government legislation and policy as part of adaptive governance, engendering plural values and approaches, and increasing equity, diversity and resilience in institutions and legal systems.
• Using enhanced reporting and accountability mechanisms, such as the Universal Periodic Review used by countries to report on human rights, to assess country contributions and overall progress at appropriate intervals.
• Enabling the transformative power of IPLCs, persons with disabilities, minorities, those marginalised and facing discrimination, and all those left behind. Addressing gender and intergenerational equity are critical elements throughout this process.
• Stringently applying safeguards guaranteeing non-violation of human rights in the implementation of sustainable development, biodiversity and climate change actions, including respect for free, prior informed consent of indigenous peoples