STATEMENT
Human Rights Council 62th Session.
Item 3 - Interactive Dialogue with Working Group on transnational corporations
Statement delivered by Finland on behalf of the Nordic-Baltic States
23 June 2026
Mr. President,
I have the honour to speak on behalf of the Nordic-Baltic countries.
We thank the Working Group for its reports.
We welcome Indigenous Peoples’ right to full, meaningful and effective participation through their own representative institutions. Consultations and cooperation with the aim of achieving free, prior and informed consent is key for ensuring that the rights of Indigenous Peoples are respected in all situations.
Ensuring a human rights lens to food security is likewise important. This also affects Indigenous Peoples’ whose lands, waters, livelihoods and knowledge systems can be directly affected by agribusiness or other business activities.
Indigenous women face specific risks from business activities affecting lands and resources, but they are also key actors in sustaining food systems and traditional knowledge.
Members of the Working Group, how can States, investors and businesses better integrate the knowledge, leadership and participation of Indigenous women into human rights due diligence and food systems governance, while ensuring effective implementation the right to be consulted in order to obtain free, prior and informed consent?
Thank you.