Partner with the IPs and LCs VCM Engagement Forum to support and empower Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities

The Integrity Council and the Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative (VCMI) are calling for expressions of interest from partners to join a new IPs and LCs VCM Engagement Forum to help shape the future of the voluntary carbon market.

IPs and LCs are stewards of critical ecosystems worldwide, and many are potential hosts for or have active projects generating carbon credits. However, IPs and LCs remain among the most underserved segments of the population and receive the least assistance and benefits from climate finance.

A VCM-wide IPs and LCs VCM Engagement Forum has great potential to strengthen and coordinate IPs and LCs involvement with the voluntary carbon market, supporting and empowering communities in the right way and growing IPs and LCs participation as shareholders, delivering benefits such as income opportunities, and biodiversity protection.

What is the IPs and LCs Engagement Forum and how will it deliver?

The IPs and LCs VCM Engagement Forum for the VCM will be a self-governing platform focused on the integration, access and coordination of IPs and LCs in the market, both as beneficiaries and shareholders. The aim is that it becomes a central coordinating space enabling market actors to engage with IPs and LCs in a more structured way, elevate advocacy and enhance transparency in the voluntary carbon market while clarifying and stating the rights and role of the IPs and LCs.

Following the COP27, the ICVCM’s IPs and LCs Taskforce engaged and consulted with IPs and LCs individuals and organisational representatives to develop the foundations and structure for a dedicated, independent IPs and LCs VCM Engagement Forum. During 2023, multiple workshops, conversations and other engagement activities took place to gather first-hand feedback that fed into the development of the Forum.

It was agreed that the Forum will include representation from across Africa, Asia, Latin America, Northern region, and Oceania, plus one representative from the UN Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform (LCIPP), and will strive to engage and collaborate with other existing forums and institutions to avoid duplicating work.

The Forum will be jointly established by the ICVCM and the Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative, and co-hosted with partners.

Forum Objectives

The Forum has the following objectives:

Unify among the IPs and LCs actors a vision to influence VCM decision making with transparency, diligence and opportunity.

Build united positions in a collegiate manner with technical, solid and robust arguments.

Engage with ICVCM, VCMI and other VCM governing entities, and organisations working toward high-integrity.

Enhance awareness and capacities on VCM across IPs and LCs

Forum Activities

The Forum will proactively identify and seek to address IPs and LCs priorities and opportunities in the VCM including by:

Facilitating knowledge exchange and capacity building with experts from across the VCM (i.e., through technical reports and workpapers, real community-based experiences, workshops, etc.).

Offering a platform to elevate advocacy and support for the involvement and expansion of IPs and LCs-led projects.

Connecting communities with access to technical assistance and best practice.

Co-creating IPs and LCs-led solutions to common challenges across the project cycle.

Who are we looking for?

To ensure a successful co-hosting and collaborative approach to the development and running of the Forum, we have identified a range of opportunities to partner with the Forum and the ICVCM. The ICVCM will be the lead co-host organisation, responsible for coordinating the efforts of partners to ensure the long-term operational capacity of the Forum.

As the Forum defines its strategy and implementation plan, partnership opportunities may evolve over the coming 12-24 months. To clearly define initial contributions to the Forum, these partnerships will be defined as either co-host partners or contributing partners. This ensures that the different types of value and commitment that partners may be able to offer are recognised appropriately.

Co-host partners

A co-host partner entails the greatest level of involvement and commitment. To be a co-host partner your organisation will be invited to provide support for a minimum of a 1-year period. This might be seconding staff for the Forum secretariat, making a material financial contribution to the Forum or specified value in-kind support such as strategy development or long-term engagement planning and delivery.

Co-host partners will be asked to sign an agreement with the ICVCM to formally commit to deliver on behalf of the Forum. Co-host partners will be recognised on the Forum’s website and included in a range of materials as they are developed.

Contributing partners

A contributing partner is invited to provide short-term or one-off support, such as a key role in the successful delivery of a range of activities, campaigns or events. Contributing partners would be expected to partly (covering their own contribution at a minimum) or fully cover the costs of the activities in which they are partnering with the Forum.

At this stage, these suggested requirements are flexible and subject to discussions with partners.