By Sharm El Sheikh
A broad coalition of 25 governments and private philanthropic entities released the first progress report on the US$1.7B pledged for the tenure rights and forest guardianship of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IP and LC). Three new funders joined the pledge in 2022, showing a growing impetus to achieve this goal, and 19% of the pledge amount was delivered — although that money was mostly channeled through international and national NGOs and far less to the organizations of IP and LC themselves.
Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities manage half the world’s land and care for an astonishing 80% of Earth’s biodiversity, primarily under customary tenure arrangements. A 2021 study showed, however, that Indigenous communities and organizations receive less than 1% of the climate funding meant to reduce deforestation.
In 2023, the funders must increase capacity-building support and utilize the more direct funding pathways and organizations that are being established by IP and LC themselves. Funders should also spread their grants more evenly across tropical regions, otherwise, the twin global crises of climate change and biodiversity extinction might tip past the point of no return…
Read the full progress report here.
The Ford Foundation is a partner of the ERA Coalition and the Fund for Women’s Equality.
