East and Southern Africa Regional Dialogue on Meaningful Engagement with Carbon Markets
The Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities Engagement Forum invites Indigenous Peoples, local communities, community organisations, civil society organisations and practitioners from across East and Southern Africa to join an online dialogue to understand barriers to meaningful engagement with carbon markets.
This dialogue forms part of a broader series of regional conversations exploring:
What currently enables or makes it difficult for Indigenous Peoples as well as local communities to engage with carbon markets on their own terms
The knowledge, strengths, governance systems and capabilities that already exist within communities and should be recognised and built upon
What support or wider changes could enable communities to make informed decisions about carbon markets, where they choose to engage – and what changes carbon markets need to make to engage better with communities
Regional priorities, opportunities and lived experiences
The Forum takes a neutral position on participation in carbon markets. It seeks to promote the rights and interests of both Indigenous Peoples and local communities in relation to the market, including the right not to engage. The purpose of this dialogue is to listen, learn and develop a shared evidence base that can inform future learning resources, practical tools, guidance and capacity self-strengthening activities.
Who is this dialogue for?
The regional dialogues are intended for:
Indigenous Peoples, as well as local community members.
Indigenous and community-led organisations and networks.
Civil society organisations and NGOs working alongside Indigenous Peoples as well as local communities.
Other organisations with experience supporting community engagement with carbon markets.
We recognise that participants may have different levels of experience, knowledge and familiarity with carbon markets. Whether you have direct experience of carbon-market initiatives, are exploring the topic for the first time, or work alongside communities in this area, all perspectives are welcome.
We recognise both Indigenous Peoples and local communities as knowledge holders, practitioners and experts in their own right. The dialogue will value lived experience, customary and Indigenous knowledge, community perspectives, and technical and professional expertise.
The discussion will be participatory and experience-based, with a focus on hearing directly from communities and those who work alongside them. We ask all participants to engage respectfully and help maintain a safe and constructive space for dialogue.
Participation, Consent and Use of Information
Participation in this dialogue is entirely voluntary. Participants are free to choose which questions they wish to respond to and may leave the discussion at any time.
The purpose of the dialogue is to listen, learn, and better understand participants' experiences, perspectives, and priorities relating to meaningful engagement with carbon markets. Insights from the discussion will be combined with findings from other regional dialogues and an accompanying online survey to help inform future Forum activities, including learning resources, practical tools, guidance and capacity-strengthening initiatives. A global dialogue is also planned for 2027, which will offer space to learn from and share insights from across the regional dialogues, and invite participants to validate findings.
The session will not be recorded, however, notes will be taken during the discussion to help identify common themes and lessons across regions. Findings will be reported in aggregated and anonymised form, and comments will not be attributed to individuals without additional permission.
The Forum is committed to respecting Indigenous Peoples' data sovereignty and best practices regarding how knowledge, experiences and perspectives are collected, used and represented. Where feasible and appropriate, participants will be given opportunities to review and validate how findings are represented before outputs are finalised.
If, following the dialogue, participants would like to seek clarification, raise concerns about the dialogue process, how information is used or represented, or request that information they have shared be withdrawn, they are encouraged to contact the Forum Secretariat at forum@icvcm.org. The Forum welcomes feedback and is committed to responding in a timely, transparent, and respectful manner.
About the Engagement Forum
The Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities Engagement Forum is a unique self-governed space built for, and led by, Indigenous Peoples as well as local communities. The Forum’s core aim is to ensure that the rights and interests of both Indigenous Peoples and local communities are central in a high integrity carbon market. The Forum holds a neutral position on carbon markets and seeks to enable communities to self-strengthen so that they can choose whether to engage in the market in an informed way – not as beneficiaries but as co-owners and equal partners. The Forum is hosted by the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) but operates independently.
To read more about the Forum, please visit: https://indigenousengagementforum.org/