Climate 411

The Role of INGOs in Conservation Has Never Been More Vital

By Annie Mark / Published: October 27, 2025
IUCN World Conservation Congress 2025 panel, ‘From Exclusion to Empowerment: Transforming Conservation Finance to Uphold Indigenous Rights’. Panelists, left to right: Malih Ole Kaunga (Founder and Executive Director, IMPACT Kenya), Stefanie Lang (Executive Director, Legacy Landscapes Fund), Annie Mark (Senior Director, Global Partnerships, Environmental Defense Fund) and Joan Carling (Executive Director, Indigenous Peoples Rights International)

IUCN World Conservation Congress 2025 panel, ‘From Exclusion to Empowerment: Transforming Conservation Finance to Uphold Indigenous Rights’. Panelists, left to right: Malih Ole Kaunga (Founder and Executive Director, IMPACT Kenya), Stefanie Lang (Executive Director, Legacy Landscapes Fund), Annie Mark (Senior Director, Global Partnerships, Environmental Defense Fund) and Joan Carling (Executive Director, Indigenous Peoples Rights International)

By Aarthi Sivaraman and Annie Mark

Our world is at a crossroads today. The biodiversity crisis is accelerating, with forests, rivers, and ecosystems that sustain people and wildlife under the growing strain of climate shocks. Worryingly, the global commitment to conservation funding is wavering even as the stakes rise. 

For example, Germany, long a leader in financing Indigenous tenure rights, is openly debating cuts, while development and climate finance face serious headwinds in the United States. Around the world, conservation is at risk of slipping down the agenda. But here’s the problem: the demand for action has never been louder. 

We know this because Environmental Defense Fund, along with its partners in the Coalition for Nature & People undertook research across Brazil, Zambia, and Indonesia to better understand how conservation projects funded by Official Development Assistance (ODA) are perceived and experienced by communities.  

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From IUCN Congress to COP30, let science, Indigenous knowledge, and economics lead toward solutions that work for people and nature

By Angela Churie Kallhauge / Published: October 6, 2025

This October, a rare, once-every-four-years gathering is taking place in Abu Dhabi: The IUCN World Conservation Congress is where global experts and leaders meet to discuss nature conservation. It’s not just about protecting wildlife; it’s a vital opportunity to find smart, practical, and science-backed ways to meet our 2030 goals for people and nature. This event is a key moment to advance actions that tackle the connected problems of biodiversity loss and climate change together—a collaborative effort, much like the UN’s “Rio Trio” agreements, that could accelerate global action. 

This Congress comes just weeks ahead of the next United Nations climate conference, COP30, which will take place in the Amazon Basin, hosted by the city of Belém, Brazil. Hosting in this setting gives us the opportunity to cast global attention to the challenges and potential solutions unfolding in the wider Amazon region, for the communities living and sustaining the Amazon, and for biodiversity and nature at large.  Read More »

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Jalisco’s Path to High-Integrity Jurisdictional Climate Finance: A Model for Climate Action and Territorial Justice

By Edgar Godoy / Published: June 19, 2025
Cloudy forest in Jalisco, Mexico

Clouds partially cover a forest in the state of Jalisco, Mexico. Photo by Edgar Godoy.

This post was authored by Edgar Godoy, Associate Vice President for Jurisdictional Alliances, and Paola Bauche, Secretary of Environment and Territorial Development, State of Jalisco, Mexico.

As the urgency of the climate crisis intensifies, jurisdictional REDD+ approaches have emerged as a scalable, equitable, and results-based solution for tackling deforestation and forest degradation. In Mexico, the State of Jalisco stands out as a subnational leader, having developed and begun implementing a jurisdictional REDD+ model rooted in long-term vision, institutional strength, and a strong commitment to forest communities’ rights. In its role as strategic partner to the Government of Jalisco, Environmental Defense Fund has been providing targeted technical assistance, supporting the development of emissions baselines and safeguard frameworks, and bolstering Jalisco’s alignment with international best practices in high-integrity carbon markets.

With over 4 million hectares of forest cover, representing more than 50% of its territory, Jalisco’s forests are critical for biodiversity conservation, climate regulation, and the livelihoods of hundreds of communal land communities, called ejidos, and Indigenous communities. The state’s REDD+ Strategy, developed through inclusive, participatory processes, links forest conservation, restoration, land-use planning, and sustainable rural development. It aligns with Mexico’s national REDD+ framework and the country’s commitments under the Paris Agreement.

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Empowering Indigenous Voices: Bridging government, communities, and carbon markets in Kenya

By Edgar Godoy and Santiago Garcia / Published: April 15, 2025
Facilitators walk through carbon market principles, empowering IPLCs to advocate for their rights and interests.

Participants at a carbon markets workshop in Nairobi, Kenya. Facilitators walk through carbon market principles, empowering Indigenous People and local communities to advocate for their rights and interests. Photo by Diego Acosta-López/EDF.

Last week, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), in partnership with the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry of Kenya, MPIDO, and IMPACT, convened a transformative workshop in Nairobi that brought together government officials and representatives from Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPLCs). The event marked a significant step forward in fostering meaningful dialogue, co-learning, and collaborative planning as Kenya positions itself within the evolving carbon market space.

This workshop equipped IPLC leaders with essential tools and knowledge to effectively engage in carbon markets, ensuring their rights are upheld and that they can benefit equitably from Kenya’s climate initiatives. EDF specialists led sessions on the fundamentals of carbon markets, robust monitoring and reporting systems, and the critical roles that both IPLCs and government institutions play in shaping a fair and inclusive market framework.

By the conclusion of the workshop, participants had collaboratively drafted a preliminary roadmap for IPLC engagement in Kenya’s carbon markets. This roadmap includes strategies for equitable benefit-sharing, participation in decision-making, and adherence to social and environmental safeguards.

Why this workshop came at a critical time
Kenya is at a decisive point in its climate leadership journey. In 2023, the country passed amendments to its Climate Change Act (National Assembly Bill No. 42), laying the legal foundation for participation in international carbon markets. The new framework enables Kenya to engage in bilateral carbon trading as well as global mechanisms under the Paris Agreement. In the same year, Kenya also signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with the LEAF Coalition, signaling its commitment to pursue high-integrity carbon finance solutions that support forest conservation.

These policy shifts have generated growing interest among IPLCs, who recognize the potential of REDD+ and other climate finance mechanisms to contribute to sustainable development. However, they also raised important questions about rights protections, cultural preservation, and the long-term implications of these initiatives on traditional land-use systems.

The Nairobi workshop served as a foundational moment to ensure that IPLCs are not only well-informed but are active co-creators in the development of Kenya’s carbon market strategies.

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A Landmark Decision for Indigenous Rights: The Inter-American Court Protects Peoples Living in Voluntary Isolation in Ecuador

By Guest Author / Published: March 24, 2025

 

Alicia Cahuiya, Vice President of the Waorani Nationality of Ecuador (NAWE). Daniel Cima, Wikimedia

This post was co-authored by David Cordero-Heredia, Professor of Law at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, and Visiting Scholar for Cornell University’s Latin American and Caribbean Studies program, and Santiago Garcia Lloré, Acting Director Forest Partnerships, Environmental Defense Fund 

Indigenous Peoples living in voluntary isolation (IPLVI) are communities that have chosen to avoid contact with the outside world. They maintain their traditional ways of life deep within remote forests and inaccessible regions. Their territories are among the most pristine and ecologically significant areas on the planet; IPLVIs play a crucial role in global biodiversity conservation.

On March 13, 2025, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) delivered a landmark ruling in the case of Indigenous Peoples Tagaeri and Taromenane v. Ecuador. The Court declared Ecuador internationally responsible for violating multiple human rights of the Tagaeri and Taromenane, Indigenous Peoples Living in Voluntary Isolation (IPLVI) in the western Amazon after violent attacks in 2003, 2006, and 2013, leading to deaths of IPLVI members (IACHR, 2024).

The ruling found that Ecuador violated the rights to collective property, self-determination, dignified life, health, food, cultural identity, a healthy environment, housing, life, judicial guarantees, and judicial protection of the Tagaeri and Taromenane. Additionally, the Court held the state responsible for violating the personal integrity, freedom, dignity, family protection, childhood rights, identity, movement, residence, cultural identity, health, and judicial guarantees of two Indigenous girls who were forcibly separated after a 2013 attack.

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