The Bezos Earth Fund has committed $3 billion by 2030 to drive a three-fold nature agenda to conserve what we still have, restore what’s been lost, and transform our food systems. As part of that commitment, the Earth Fund announced a $9.7 million grant to leading Brazilian Indigenous associations and NGOs to provide legal and logistical support and capacity building to Indigenous peoples and local communities so that they can fully engage and benefit from emerging carbon market opportunities in the Brazilian Amazon. This initial investment, announced during the UN Forum on Indigenous Peoples and on the day of the Major Economics Forum on Energy and Climate, will be bolstered by a larger commitment in Brazil.

The Amazon, the world’s largest rainforest, is essential to biodiversity and to a stable global climate. The land under the stewardship of Indigenous Peoples and local communities – about 30% of the forest – has amongst the richest biodiversity and greatest carbon stores with far less deforestation than other parts of the forest. Despite this success, only a minute fraction of climate and forest finance is reaching Indigenous and local communities. These critical rightsholders and stakeholders are too often pushed to the margins when negotiating climate and forest finance.

See related article: Greenhouse Gas Protocol Receives USD $9.25 Million Grant from the Bezos Earth Fund

Technical, logistical, and legal training can help Indigenous Peoples and local communities engage more fully and effectively, as partners, in the design of carbon market initiatives that can finance Amazon conservation. This grant seeks to level the playing field by supporting needed training with a focus on the Brazilian states of Mato Grosso and Maranhão, where recent growth in the voluntary carbon market has attracted a wide range of project developers and investment that is getting out ahead of thorough and thoughtful local consultation and partnership processes.

The Environmental Defense Fund, leading Indigenous People Local Community organizations and local NGOs will train hundreds of Indigenous and community leaders as part of a comprehensive training program. As a result, they will be better able to make informed decisions about, and determine their participation in, forest carbon markets. Done right, this can strengthen the conservation of up to 12 million hectares of Indigenous and local community lands.