COMMUNITY RIGHTS

A 2008 briefing by Friends of the Earth International defining community rights as collective, third-generation human rights for local communities and Indigenous Peoples to protect cultural and biological diversity against monopolistic intellectual property frameworks.

• Community rights are defined as collective, universal, and sovereign 'Third Generation human rights' or 'Solidarity rights' intended to protect the traditional ways of life and collective management of nature by local communities and Indigenous Peoples. These rights serve as a counter-mechanism to the monopolistic intellectual property rights established by the WTO TRIPS agreement.
• Community rights function as a legal framework to protect the interaction between cultural and biological diversity based on customary practices. Unlike property rights, they do not guarantee exclusive rights and should be defined from a gender perspective to recognize the leading role of women in biodiversity conservation.
• The document argues against the creation of new laws to regulate collective rights, as codification risks making cultural practices static and imposes a hegemonic legal order that differs from customary law. Instead, community rights should be treated as human rights that must be respected.

APA

Friends of the Earth International (2008). COMMUNITY RIGHTS. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/derechos-comunitario-ingles-final.pdf

Chicago

Friends of the Earth International. COMMUNITY RIGHTS. 2008. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/derechos-comunitario-ingles-final.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Friends of the Earth International |title=COMMUNITY RIGHTS |date=2008 |url=https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/derechos-comunitario-ingles-final.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{friendsoftheearthinternational2008community, author = {{Friends of the Earth International}}, title = {{COMMUNITY RIGHTS}}, institution = {Friends of the Earth International}, year = {2008}, url = {https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/derechos-comunitario-ingles-final.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }