ICVCM and VCMI Seek Partners for Indigenous Peoples Carbon Market Engagement Forum

The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market and the Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative are seeking expressions of interest from partner organisations to co-host a new IPs and LCs VCM Engagement Forum. The Forum aims to give Indigenous Peoples and local communities structured access to voluntary carbon market decision-making as both beneficiaries and shareholders.

The Forum was developed following consultations with IP and LC individuals and organisational representatives after COP27. During 2023, multiple workshops and engagement activities gathered first-hand feedback that shaped the Forum's structure. Membership will include representatives from Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Northern Region, and Oceania, plus one representative from the UN Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform. The Forum will be jointly established by the ICVCM and VCMI and co-hosted with partners, with an objective of becoming a self-governing body.

The partnership structure offers two levels of involvement. Co-host partners provide sustained support for a minimum of one year, which may include seconding staff to the Forum secretariat, making material financial contributions, or providing in-kind strategic support. Contributing partners provide shorter-term or event-specific support, covering at minimum the costs associated with their own contribution. The ICVCM emphasised that partnership requirements remain flexible and subject to discussion, with expectations likely to evolve as the Forum defines its strategy over the first 12-24 months of operation.

The Forum's objectives include unifying IP and LC voices on VCM decision-making, facilitating knowledge exchange and capacity building, and co-creating community-led solutions to challenges across the carbon project cycle. IPs and LCs remain among the most underserved segments of the global population in terms of access to climate finance, despite managing ecosystems that underpin a significant share of voluntary carbon market activity. The ICVCM and VCMI have framed the Forum as a structural response to this gap, with the potential to substantially expand IP and LC participation as shareholders generating income and biodiversity co-benefits.

Key figure — 12-24 months — initial period over which Forum partnership opportunities and requirements are expected to evolve