Evidence demonstrates that addressing climate change requires listening to and directly supporting the communities that have long lived in and stewarded territories with a deep respect for both the environment and human well-being. Therefore, the Brazil Human Rights Fund launched Raízes – Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities Fund for Climate Justice in November 2023.
Raízes provides grants to strengthen the self-organization of Indigenous peoples and local communities, empowering their leadership in public climate justice discussions.
This initiative represents a focused effort to raise funds and offer ongoing support to these communities, recognizing their central role in addressing climate change.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), over 40 percent of the global population is already highly vulnerable to climate change. In the Global South, this vulnerability is compounded by deeply rooted historical factors such as social inequality, land injustice, and environmental racism.
The IPCC emphasizes that successful efforts to protect forests and other ecosystems depend on inclusive decision-making processes with local communities and Indigenous peoples, alongside the recognition of their inherent rights.
In this context, Raízes – Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities Fund for Climate Justice aims to strengthen and deepen its support by engaging continuously with these communities. The fund is committed to an intersectional, systemic approach, reinforcing the idea that protecting land rights is integral to solving the climate crisis.
According to Decree 6.040/2007, Article 3, § 1, Traditional Peoples and Communities (TPCs) in Brazil can be defined as: “culturally distinct groups that recognize themselves as such, possessing their own forms of social organization, occupying and using territories and natural resources as a condition for their cultural, social, religious, ancestral, and economic reproduction, utilizing knowledge, innovations, and practices generated and transmitted by tradition.”
Thus, preserving the rights of these peoples is essential to conserving Brazil’s socio-biodiversity and the many social, cultural, and ecological aspects that make up this nation.
The definition of traditional communities in Brazil encompasses dozens of culturally distinct groups, characterized by their own forms of social organization and a profound, respectful relationship with their territories and natural resources.
These groups include andirobeiras, sempre-viva collectors, caatingueiros, mangaba collectors, quilombolas, extractive workers, riverine groups, caiçaras, gypsies, terreiro communities, cipozeiros, Brazil nut producers, faxinalenses, fundo e fecho de pasto communities, geraizeiros, islanders, isqueiros, morroquianos, pantaneiros, small-scale fishers, piassabeiros, pomeranos, babassu coconut breakers, retireiros, rubber tappers, vazanteiros, and veredeiros.
