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 »

Also posted in Forest protection, United Nations / Authors: / Comments are closed

Financing Forest Conservation: Guiding Quality Forest Finance in the Baku to Belém Roadmap

By Zach Cohen and Mark Moroge / Published: July 22, 2025

Aerial view of a Costa Rican rainforest. Flickr/ Francisco Guerrero 2020

By Mark Moroge and Zach Cohen 

At this November’s UN Climate Conference in Belém, progress on climate finance will be measured not just in pledges, but in delivery – including for forests, which are critical to regulating the climate, sustaining biodiversity, and supporting millions of people. The driving question: how do we get more money to the people conserving critical ecosystems at the speed and scale needed to make a difference? 

Last year’s climate conference in Baku set an ambitious goal to mobilize $1.3 trillion by 2035 for developing countries. Over the coming months, countries will provide inputs on a ‘Baku to Belém Roadmap’, guiding public and private sectors to deliver on this target. While scaling climate finance is essential, so is ensuring its quality. Strengthening the affordability, accessibility, and effectiveness of climate funding must be priorities to catalyze transformative action. 

As the Baku to Belém Roadmap takes shape, these principles of quality cannot just be abstractions – they need to be translated within specific sectors and contexts. This is especially true for the forest sector, where stakeholders face underlying barriers to securing the financing they need, and where there are ripe opportunities to unlock new resources, from leveraging public money to catalyze private investment, to deploying innovative models like the Tropical Forests Forever Facility.  Read More »

Also posted in Brazil, Carbon Markets, Climate Finance, Extreme Weather, REDD+, United Nations / Tagged , , , , , , | Authors: , / Comments are closed

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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Also posted in Carbon Markets, Forest protection, International, Mexico, Paris Agreement, REDD+, United Nations / Authors: / Comments are closed

Bonn 2025: Charting the Path to COP30 and Enhanced Climate Action

By Sarah Swain and Zach Cohen / Published: June 12, 2025

2025 June Climate Meetings. UNFCCC/ Amira Grotendiek

Next week, the international climate community will convene in Bonn for the 62nd session of the UNFCCC Subsidiary Bodies (June 16-26, 2025), or SB62. SB62 marks a critical milestone on the road to COP30 in Belém, Brazil, shaping the preparation and setting the stage for the negotiations.  

The meetings in Bonn will be guided by a central principle set by COP30 Presidency: the idea of “global mutirão,” the power of collective action to achieve goals no single actor can accomplish alone. Brazil has launched this initiative to identify common ground across regions and sectors, finding areas of convergence that can drive ambitious climate action forward. The Presidency has underscored the urgent need for this collaborative approach, particularly at SB62, to rebuild the multilateral trust strained during COP29 and by widening geopolitical rifts.  

Answering the global call for climate action, the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) is putting the spirit of “mutirão” into practice. At its core, EDF’s “mutirão” is already in our DNA. We play a unique role working with partners and allies across society – from local communities, major companies, Indigenous Peoples, governments and more – to find the shared goals that lead to groundbreaking solutions. Embracing collaboration and partnership has led us to impactful wins for planet and people: from supporting Indigenous Peoples’ participation in UN spaces to conserve forests, to gathering national oil companies together under an ambitious goal to slash methane emissions. Our commitment to this inclusive approach is essential for rebuilding the global trust needed for swift, fair, and ambitious climate action that delivers.  

Here are the thematic issues and topics EDF will be actively engaged in during SB62:

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Also posted in Agriculture, Brazil, Climate Finance, International, News, Oceans, Paris Agreement, United Nations / Tagged , , , , | Authors: , / Comments are closed