Joan Carling is an Indigenous activist from the Cordillera Region, Philippines. For more than 20 years, she has been working on issues that Indigenous Peoples experience both at the grassroots and international levels. Her field of expertise includes human rights, sustainable development, environment, and climate change, as well as the principles and application of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC). She has actively engaged international bodies to advance the issues and concerns of Indigenous Peoples. This includes International Financial Institutions, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), REDD+ related mechanisms, UN agencies, and mechanisms on human rights and
sustainable development.
As Secretary General of the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (Al PP) from September 2008 to December 2016, she represented AIPP's 47 member-organizations in 14 countries. She remains as one of AI PP's Foundation Board members.
Ms. Carling was appointed by the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) as an Indigenous expert-member of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UN PFII) from 2014 to 2016. She was awarded the UN Lifetime Achievement Award by the UN Environment Programme in September 2018.