Across British Columbia and Canada many First Nations communities and their governments are working to anticipate and manage the impacts of resource development while generating economic opportunities from proposed projects. Impact benefit agreements (IBAs) are one tool that can be used to help define opportunities, frame the relationships between companies and communities, and ensure benefits for Indigenous communities flow from projects in their territories. This report supports the work of the First Nations LNG Alliance (FNLNGA), and meets a need identified by the Alliance to provide guidance on the design and implementation of impact benefit agreements. The project addresses four objectives: 1. Understand how success is understood from multiple negotiating parties (e.g. First Nations community leaders, government officials, and industry affiliates) involved in IBA negotiations; 2. Document key challenges to IBA implementation from multiple perspectives; 3. Ground-truth previously established best practices in IBA through multiple perspectives in the context of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry, and 4. Share key insights and provide principles to support First Nations communities in preparing for and implementing IBAs. For in-depth information on IBAs, readers can consult best-practice guidance documents such as the guide to benefit sharing agreements in BC, the IBA Community Toolkit, a review of critical issues pertaining to IBAs and their implementation, a systematic review of key aspects of IBA practice, and established best-practice guidance on financing mechanisms and associated fiscal instruments. What can be missing from academic work on IBAs is the advice and experience from those who directly involved in creating or implementing agreements. This report outlines the findings from three focus groups, which help to understand the IBA process from the perspectives of First Nations leadership, government, and industry. Hearing from those involved in these sectors can provide information and perspectives that can help First Nations leaders interested in advancing IBAs in their own communities. They can also be beneficial for articulating principles that can be deployed to strengthen the negotiation and implementation of IBAs. In addition to presenting results of the focus groups, the report introduces the concept of IBAs, including their legal foundations and typical provisions that are negotiated; outlines a literature review looking at best practices in IBA implementation; and describes results from a focus group approach that was used to understand and assess key indicators of success of IBAs related to BC’s emerging liquefied natural gas industry. The results are discussed and key principles are outlined to help inform future IBA negotiation and implementation in the province’s LNG sector.

Benefit Agreements: A Wayfinding Guide

Resource Key: KECZYUUB

Document Type: Report

Creator:

Author:

  • FNLNGA

Creators Name: {mb_resource_zotero_creatorsname}

Place: British Columbia, Canada

Institution: First Nations LNG Alliance (FNLNGA)

Date: 2023

Language: en

Across British Columbia and Canada many First Nations communities and their governments are working to anticipate and manage the impacts of resource development while generating economic opportunities from proposed projects. Impact benefit agreements (IBAs) are one tool that can be used to help define opportunities, frame the relationships between companies and communities, and ensure benefits for Indigenous communities flow from projects in their territories. This report supports the work of the First Nations LNG Alliance (FNLNGA), and meets a need identified by the Alliance to provide guidance on the design and implementation of impact benefit agreements. The project addresses four objectives: 1. Understand how success is understood from multiple negotiating parties (e.g. First Nations community leaders, government officials, and industry affiliates) involved in IBA negotiations; 2. Document key challenges to IBA implementation from multiple perspectives; 3. Ground-truth previously established best practices in IBA through multiple perspectives in the context of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry, and 4. Share key insights and provide principles to support First Nations communities in preparing for and implementing IBAs. For in-depth information on IBAs, readers can consult best-practice guidance documents such as the guide to benefit sharing agreements in BC, the IBA Community Toolkit, a review of critical issues pertaining to IBAs and their implementation, a systematic review of key aspects of IBA practice, and established best-practice guidance on financing mechanisms and associated fiscal instruments. What can be missing from academic work on IBAs is the advice and experience from those who directly involved in creating or implementing agreements. This report outlines the findings from three focus groups, which help to understand the IBA process from the perspectives of First Nations leadership, government, and industry. Hearing from those involved in these sectors can provide information and perspectives that can help First Nations leaders interested in advancing IBAs in their own communities. They can also be beneficial for articulating principles that can be deployed to strengthen the negotiation and implementation of IBAs. In addition to presenting results of the focus groups, the report introduces the concept of IBAs, including their legal foundations and typical provisions that are negotiated; outlines a literature review looking at best practices in IBA implementation; and describes results from a focus group approach that was used to understand and assess key indicators of success of IBAs related to BC’s emerging liquefied natural gas industry. The results are discussed and key principles are outlined to help inform future IBA negotiation and implementation in the province’s LNG sector.

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