Donors fail to increase direct support to indigenous groups. Money is ‘stuck in global funds and bureaucratic systems’

Two years ago in Glasgow, five bilateral governments and several philanthropies pledged to increase funding to indigenous communities in recognition of their crucial role as guardians of tropical forests. A progress report, presented as COP28 gets underway, shows that funding has increased, but the share of government grants going directly to indigenous organisations remains negligible. Much of it “remains stuck in complicated global funds and sluggish bureaucratic systems,” writes Ford Foundation President Darren Walker.