A stark warning of more “hunger, displacement and loss” from the UN chief has set the stage for Brazil’s push for a new, more just model of conservation. As UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned “moral failure,” Brazil proposed a fund that places Indigenous peoples at its core.
Guterres’s speech at the Belem summit was a grim reminder of the human cost of climate change, warning that every fraction of a degree of warming will displace more people. He blamed “fossil fuel interests” for holding the world’s public interest captive.
In what appears to be a direct answer to this call for a new approach, Brazil’s “Tropical Forests Forever Facility” includes a groundbreaking rule. Twenty percent of the $5.5 billion fund is mandated to go directly to Indigenous communities, the very people on the front lines of both climate change and conservation.
This “pay-to-preserve” fund, backed by $3 billion from Norway, is designed to pay 74 developing nations to halt deforestation. By allocating a fifth of its resources to Indigenous tribes, it recognizes them as the most effective stewards of the land.
This dual focus on high finance and frontline communities offers a potential blueprint for a more equitable climate future. However, it must contend with the political reality of the world’s top polluters—the US, China, and India—skipping the crucial summit.