ID: 1733
Presenting Author: Mireya Archila
Session: 652 - EA in Latin America: Bridging Infrastructure and Communities for Sustainable Development
Status: pending
Aligning EIA participation with Indigenous consultation builds trust, prevents social conflict, and reinforces legal certainty for sustainable and inclusive project development.
In Guatemala, environmental governance operates through two disconnected mechanisms: public participation within the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process and Indigenous consultation under ILO Convention 169 once environmental license is issued. Although Guatemala ratified ILO 169, the country lacks a regulatory framework for its implementation. Consequently, consultation is not legally linked to the EIA approval process, allowing projects to be authorized without prior consultation with Indigenous communities.
This disjunction leads to scenarios in which early public participation may create a perception of acceptance, while Indigenous Peoples later challenge the project through consultation demands grounded in collective rights and cultural autonomy. This situation not only undermines Indigenous community trust but also generates legal uncertainty, risks for governance, investment and project viability.
By addressing local cases this work explores how late-stage consultation fuels conflicting narratives and judicialization, despite the fact such projects had environmental license. Opportunities for improvement include: updating EIA regulations; enabling EIA public participation processes; establishing pre-consultation stages informed by EIA scoping; and creating clear, intercultural communication strategies and conflict-prevention protocols. These measures could transform current gaps into a harmonized dialogue framework that enhances legitimacy, strengthens legal certainty, and promotes socially sustainable development.
. Executive Director of Geoambiente and senior consultant in EIA, risk management, and sustainability, with experience promoting socio-environmental development across emerging economies.
Coauthor 1: Jessica Motok