Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples (LCIPs) have been involved in the implementation of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) since 1992. In 2015 the Conference of the Parties established a new element to strengthen LCIPs efforts to address and respond to climate change - the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform (LCIP Platform).

Ecologic Institute was tasked by the Nordic Council's Working Group for Global Climate Negotiations (NOAK) to produce a report which looks into potential governing arrangements of the LCIP platform. These arrangements should be coherent with the UN Rules of Procedure and Paris Agreement while achieving indigenous peoples’ goals and priorities including full and effective participation.

This report by Arne Riedel and Ralph Bodle gives an overview on the state of the LCIP Platform negotiations and the current modes of participation of non-Party stakeholders in the UNFCCC process. Based on these consideration, the paper presents a toolkit of potential elements and develops several potential options for making the LCIP Platform operational. It suggests that a facilitative working group, an expert group or a dialogue platform could fulfil the LCIP platform's functions by enabling further exchange of knowledge, promoting capacity building and enhancing the engagement of local communities and indigenous peoples in the UNFCCC process. The report is available for download.

The proposals in the report were discussed at an Informal Friendly States and Indigenous Peoples' representatives meeting, which was held in February 2018 in Helsinki, Finland. A summary of this meeting can be found at the end of the report.