Indigenous peoples and local communities are the natural stewards of their land, playing a crucial role in safeguarding 80% of the world’s remaining biodiversity despite comprising only 6% of the global population.
Yet their efforts in protecting ecosystems face significant barriers, particularly a lack of access to climate funding.
Of an estimated $17.4 billion in global climate funding between 2003 and 2016, less than 10% reached local groups, according to the International Institute for Environment and Development. For Indigenous communities specifically, the numbers are even starker. The Rainforest Foundation Norway found that Indigenous land tenure and forest management received less than 1% of official development assistance for climate change mitigation and adaptation.