This chapter discusses the experiences of local communities when participating in processes that seek to obtain their free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) for projects or policies that are likely to affect their lives or territories. After approval of the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), FPIC became a requirement in the environmental and social standards of various international financial institutions (e.g., the IFC, EIB, and World Bank) and was expected to be a game changer, heralding a new age of respect for Indigenous Peoples. However, in many cases, companies or governments have actively circumvented or subverted the requirement for FPIC. Due to the format and the asymmetrical power relations within an EIA process, most so-called FPIC procedures fail to fully conform to FPIC principles and act in good faith. Tactics employed by proponents (often with state support) tend to limit communities’ options only to a situation of “approval with conditions,” without any possibility of withholding consent. In addition to denying communities the right to say no to projects deemed detrimental to their well-being or self-determined interests, key issues include the limited consideration of sociocultural aspects, such as internal political organization, the spiritual world, and a disregard for traditional knowledge throughout the impact assessment process. Based on document analysis and the authors’ practical experiences, we discuss how the application of FPIC has developed, recent legal advances surrounding it, and the consequences for a project’s license to operate in communities when FPIC procedures are inadequate. In order to secure their right to self-determined ethnodevelopment is fully respected, Indigenous Peoples have been advocating for meaningful, ongoing, and culturally appropriate FPIC processes by drafting their own Community Consultation Protocols. Alongside other community initiatives, such as Indigenous-Led Impact Assessments (ILIA), we reflect on new forms of participation in projects and deliver a fair transition which respects human rights and conforms to societal needs and expectations.