FPIC: Free, Prior and Informed Consent in carbon projects
FPIC — Free, Prior and Informed Consent — is the principle that communities decide whether a project proceeds on their land, on their terms, with full information and before it begins.
What FPIC means
Free means without coercion. Prior means before activities begin and with enough time to decide. Informed means with accurate, accessible information about the project and its effects. Consent means the community can say yes or no — and can attach conditions or withdraw.
FPIC is grounded in international frameworks on the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, and it is now a baseline expectation for high-integrity nature-based projects.
Why FPIC matters for carbon projects
Communities live with the consequences of a project for decades. Projects that skip or rush consent face disputes, reversals and reputational damage — and increasingly fail buyer due diligence. Standards and frameworks now expect FPIC to be demonstrated, not asserted.
How FPIC is evidenced
Credible FPIC is a process, captured as evidence: records of consultations, the information shared, who participated, the decisions reached, conditions attached, and how grievances are handled over the life of the project. Treating consent as structured, attributable, time-stamped evidence — rather than a single PDF — is what lets it stand up to scrutiny.
This is one reason consent and community voice belong in the same record as the rest of a project’s MRV, captured by the communities themselves.