Photo: Valdir Dias|CAA NM
*This is the first of two blogs from the series Trust-based and locally led processes toward Climate Justice in Brazil
If you hear about Brazil and climate change, I am sure you will think of the Amazon. But have you ever heard of the Cerrado? I admit, I knew little to nothing about it. The Cerrado is a vast tropical savanna ecoregion in eastern Brazil, covering more than 2 million square kilometers (approximately 20% of the Brazilian territory). This biome is home to a remarkable diversity of life, which includes more than 11,000 species of plants, many of which are endemic, and a variety of fauna ranging from jaguars to rare birds. It is also heavily impacted by climate change – becoming ever dryer, while it has a fundamental role for the main Brazilian and South American river basins (including the Amazon) and therefore for ensuring energy production, food security, and water provision for general use.
Despite its relevance, it has received very little attention in general and particularly from philanthropy.
With the purpose of calling attention to this important biome and territorial rights of local communities, is that the 7th International Colloquium on Traditional People and Communities – Springtime of the Peoples towards COP30 took place in the city of Montes Claros in the heart of the Cerrado. I had the great privilege to join a roundtable on the role of community funds in the ecosystem of actors, including different forms of philanthropy.
This is the first of two blogs reflecting on those conversations. This first one is focused on learnings for trust-based accountable grantmaking, and the second one addresses the accountability needs at a systems level, including narratives.
Together with Carolina Munis (Oak Foundation), Erika Yamada (Ford Foundation), Cecilia Viana (CLUA Brazil), Sandra Regina Monteiro (Fundo Babaçu), Dinaman Tuxa (Fundo APIB), and Sandra Braga (CONAQ), we discussed ways of building trusted relationships based on mutual transparency and accountability. There is clearly a long way for donors to truly localize their funding and for community funds to strengthen their structures and coordination. You can read about the above-mentioned community funds at the end of this blog.
The main challenges and opportunities include:
Global North philanthropy can and should do better by observing local needs and perspectives. For instance, while funding for activism in the Amazon is not sufficient, other biomes have been largely ignored, such as the region where the Colloquium took place.
The asymmetry of the global financing system leads to situations where, for instance, the US has more than 86,000 foundations registered, while Brazil only has less than 100 (according to data produced by Philea).
Funders’ lack of coordination impacts heavily on local movements. It is not rare to see several major funders cutting their funding at the same time or decreasing funding to whole geographies. For instance, while the current government of Brazil is more progressive, human rights challenges did not disappear from one day to another – but funding did – as funders considered Brazil was now on the right road. Even when funders stay, they often change their thematic priorities, leaving organizations struggling for survival. Responsible planning and exit strategies should be the rule.
Develop more equitable forms of participation and decision-making processes in the chain of funding.
This can be done for instance by agreeing on shared values and rules.
Philanthropy should not only support localized and community funds but also continue to hold long-term partnerships to see them thrive (what if in a few years the wave of "localization" passes?)
Community funds and mechanisms are instruments for social movements and communities to dispute funds that are historically inaccessible and apply collective rationale to them. They should not be instrumentalized by funders in ways that distort their essential nature and purpose.
Strengthening a territory's social fabric requires continued support not only to community funds but also to local, regional, and national organizations. Ideally, they should not have to compete for funding.
Community funds are interested in learning methodologies to strengthen the administration of funds and governance systems and build a chain of trust-based relationships.
For the above to happen, there is also a need to improve channels of communication (not only access to funding).
The above resonates with OECD analysis that shows that more than 90% of funding directed to the Global South is channeled through international or Global North-based civil society organizations and this prioritization is linked to risk aversion and distrust; legislative or regulatory barriers; complex and burdensome administrative requirements; restrictive funding; negative assumptions and narratives surrounding partner country civil society actors, among others.
In response to this situation, TAI conducted a brief scoping study on intermediaries in the Global South that promote fair and equitable governance. Look out for the report coming out in October! Our findings reveal a diverse range of intermediary types, but there is a consensus on several key principles for effective trust-based grantmaking. These include:
Investing time in building relationships, actively listening to and respecting diverse perspectives (rather than imposing top-down strategies),
Streamlining application processes to reduce administrative burdens, tailor them to local organizations’ needs, and strengthening learning processes that focus on adaptation and systemic changes that organizations are striving for, rather than strict monetary control.
We are looking forward to deepening these conversations in the upcoming months.
Community funds presenting at the session:
Fundo APIB, the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil represents the Brazilian indigenous movement at national and international levels. APIB works across a large variety of issue areas, including territorial rights and climate, coordinating Indigenous people to participate and demand their rights at the upcoming COP30.
Fundo Babacu: The Interstate Movement of Babaçu Coconut Breakers represents the social, political, and economic interests of coconut breakers – primarily women, promoting political and economic autonomy in defense of babaçu palm trees, territories, the environment, improving living conditions of communities, based on the concept of ‘buen vivir’.
CONAQ: The National Coordination of the Articulation of Quilombos fights for the rights of Quilombola communities at the local, regional, and national levels in Brazil to protect their leaders from racial violence, defend their territory from industrial agriculture and developers, and strengthen food sovereignty strategies.