International recognition of indigenous and tribal peoples’ right to free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) is a result of a hard fought struggle by indigenous rights movements that consider FPIC critical to facilitating the rotection of indigenous rights and the expression of their autonomy, including in the context of oil, gas, and mining projects. In practice, while some progress has been made, the potential for FPIC as a right and a mechanism to facilitate and protect indigenous and tribal peoples’ rights is far from being realized in the countries studied for this report. Existing approaches of global actors seeking to support improved recognition of FPIC and implementation of prior consultation processes tend to focus on improving technical and normative conditions, i.e. the development of norms, standards, and guidelines and the capacity to implement these. One key piece of the puzzle that is widely recognized by actors working most closely with indigenous peoples, but less systematically integrated into how global actors support work on FPIC and prior consultation processes, relates to politics. FPIC is fundamentally about shifting power over certain decisions from one set of historically privileged actors to another set of actors, who have typically been marginalized; as such, it is unsurprising that attempts to implement the right would be highly politicized.