The Climate Change Mitigation with Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples workshop was held in Cairns, Australia, from 26-28 March 2012. The aim of the workshop was to identify, compile and analyze relevant issues related to climate change mitigation by local communities and indigenous peoples.

The three day workshop was attended by over 83 experts, and brought together indigenous peoples and local community experts, developing country and climate scientists, and IPCC authors in the identification and selection of relevant data and literature. The workshop was overseen by a panel of international scientific experts.

The overall aims of the workshop were to:

• Reflect the wide and diverse range of perspectives concerning indigenous peoples/local communities and climate change responses (including mitigation);
• Support the build-up of understanding and peer-reviewed literature in the field of Indigenous peoples, local communities and climate change mitigation;
• Compile regional and local data and grey literature that are relevant for understanding climate change mitigation involving local and Indigenous knowledge holders, local populations, and developing country scientists;
• Support Indigenous peoples’, local communities’ and developing country scientists’ engagement and research in international climate dialogues;
• Provide policy-makers with relevant information on the mitigation potential of Indigenous peoples and local communities; and
• Outline a publication in a Special Issue of a peer-reviewed scientific journal.