Decision 2/CP.23
Local communities and indigenous peoples platform
The Conference of the Parties,
Recalling the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, decision 1/CP.21 and the Paris Agreement,
Acknowledging that Parties should, when taking action to address climate change, respect, promote and consider their respective obligations on the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities,
Emphasizing the role of local communities and indigenous peoples in achieving the targets and goals set out in the Convention, the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and recognizing their vulnerability to climate change,
Reaffirming the need to strengthen the knowledge, technologies, practices and efforts of local communities and indigenous peoples related to addressing and responding to climate change, and the importance of the platform established for the exchange of experience and sharing of best practices related to mitigation and adaptation in a holistic and integrated manner,
1. Notes with appreciation the submissions from Parties,1 indigenous peoples organizations and other relevant organizations2 on the purpose, content and structure of the local communities and indigenous peoples platform (hereinafter referred to as the platform);
2. Acknowledges the fruitful exchange of views that took place during the open multi-stakeholder dialogue that was convened by the Chair of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice and co-moderated with a representative of indigenous peoples organizations during the forty-sixth session of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice, on 16 and 17 May 2017;3
3. Notes with appreciation the support provided by Belgium and New Zealand for the participation of representatives of indigenous peoples organizations in the multi-stakeholder dialogue referred to in paragraph 2 above;
4. Welcomes the report on the proposals on the operationalization of the platform based on the open multi-stakeholder dialogue referred to in paragraph 2 above and the submissions received;4
5. Decides that the overall purposes of the platform will be to strengthen the knowledge, technologies, practices and efforts of local communities and indigenous peoples related to addressing and responding to climate change, to facilitate the exchange of experience and the sharing of best practices and lessons learned related to mitigation and adaptation in a holistic and integrated manner and to enhance the engagement of local communities and indigenous peoples in the UNFCCC process;
6. Also decides that the platform will perform the following functions:
(a) Knowledge: the platform should promote the exchange of experience and best practices with a view to applying, strengthening, protecting and preserving traditional knowledge, knowledge of indigenous peoples and local knowledge systems, as well as technologies, practices and efforts of local communities and indigenous peoples related to addressing and responding to climate change, taking into account the free, prior and informed consent of the holders of such knowledge, innovations and practices;
(b) Capacity for engagement: the platform should build the capacity of indigenous peoples and local communities to enable their engagement in the UNFCCC process and the capacity of Parties and other relevant stakeholders to engage with the platform and with local communities and indigenous peoples, including in the context of the implementation of the Paris Agreement and other climate change related processes;
(c) Climate change policies and actions: the platform should facilitate the integration of diverse knowledge systems, practices and innovations in designing and implementing international and national actions, programmes and policies in a manner that respects and promotes the rights and interests of local communities and indigenous peoples. The platform should also facilitate the undertaking of stronger and more ambitious climate action by indigenous peoples and local communities that could contribute to the achievement of the nationally determined contributions of the Parties concerned;
7. Further decides to continue to work towards the full operationalization of the platform;
8. Recommends that the processes under the platform, including its operationalization, take into account, inter alia, the interests and views of local communities and indigenous peoples, as well as the following principles proposed by indigenous peoples organizations: full and effective participation of indigenous peoples; equal status of indigenous peoples and Parties, including in leadership roles; self-selection of indigenous peoples representatives in accordance with indigenous peoples’ own procedures; and adequate funding from the secretariat and voluntary contributions to enable the functions referred to in paragraph 6 above;
9. Decides that the first activity of the platform will be a multi-stakeholder workshop on implementing the functions referred to in paragraph 6 above, to be co-moderated by the Chair of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice and a representative of local communities and indigenous peoples organizations, who will each make an equal contribution to the design of the workshop;
10. Requests the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice to consider at its forty-eighth session (April–May 2018) the further operationalization of the platform, including the establishment of a facilitative working group, which would not be a negotiating body under the Convention, and the modalities for the development of a workplan for the full implementation of the functions referred to in paragraph 6 above, with balanced representation of local communities and indigenous peoples and Parties, and to conclude its considerations by making recommendations to the Conference of the Parties at its twenty-fourth session (December 2018);
11. Takes note of the estimated budgetary implications of the activities to be undertaken by the secretariat referred to in paragraph 9 above;
12. Requests that the actions of the secretariat called for in this decision be undertaken subject to the availability of financial resources
12th plenary meeting
17 November 2017
1 Available at
http://unfccc.int/documentation/submissions_from_non-party_stakeholders/items/7482.php.
3 See http://unfccc.int/10151.
4 FCCC/SBSTA/2017/6.
