Local level agreements (LLAs) are the new norm for extractive companies wanting to secure certainty and mutual obligation in their relationship with host communities. Whatever local term is used, and there are many, LLAs are legally binding arrangements between a business entity and institutions representing a community group. They can ratify a simple transactional exchange or expand through a range of options into comprehensive agreements that address everything and anything that the parties want definition and certainty on.
resolution88 has first hand experience with many LLAs, including many exploration and mining native title agreements in Australia, the first comprehensive LLA in Mongolia, Native American and Canadian First Nations agreements, environmental management agreements and landowner agreements in PNG. Familiarity extends to agreements with historically disadvantaged South Africans, land-connected and Indigenous Andean peoples, various land-connected African peoples, Maori in New Zealand, and forest and hill tribes in parts of Asia. LLAs can demonstrate Free Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) with land-connected and Indigenous peoples, satisfying the tenets of the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. When tackled clumsily by inexperienced operators pursuing overly legal, position bargaining or transactional approaches, the result can be expensive and lead to terminal failure.
resolution88 offers grounded advice on local level agreement-making, borne out of extensive direct experience and exposure in a wide range of social settings.