Powering on for climate justice: RRI’s three days of action at NYC Climate Week 2025 - Rights + Resources - Supporting Forest Tenure, Policy, and Market Reforms

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Powering on for climate justice: RRI’s three days of action at NYC Climate Week 2025

Rights and Resources Initiative

During Climate Week NYC 2025, RRI and partners amplified Indigenous, Afro-descendant, and local community voices—advancing rights-based climate action and equity ahead of COP30.

08 .10. 2025

7 minutes read

THEMES:

Climate Change, Global, Interlaken Group, Path to Scale, Rights, Climate and Conservation

Last week, Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) co-hosted a series of meaningful events during Climate Week NYC 2025. They brought together a range of partners from governments, civil society, rightsholder leaders, and private sector collaborators. As UNFCCC COP30 approaches, this was a critical moment to show that Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant Peoples, and local communities possess valuable knowledge and experiences that should be included in the climate space.

The events below embodied the collective momentum needed to advance rights-based, lasting climate solutions and reflected this year’s Climate Week theme, Power On.

Day 1: Aligning Priorities and Advancing Collaboration

Interlaken Group Convening

The Interlaken Group, a network of leaders from companies, civil society organizations, governments, and investors, convened to explore the intersection of donor, community, and private-sector priorities with sourcing landscapes. The event highlighted practical collaboration models, such as community monitoring initiatives, and examined both the significant potential impact of these efforts and the challenges of putting them into practice.

Panelists raised critical questions, such as: How are funders increasing their focus on priorities like livelihoods and Indigenous economies? Is philanthropic funding directly reaching Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant Peoples, and local communities in sourcing regions?

They also explored how communities are using that support, for example, to strengthen institutions, conduct local monitoring, improve livelihoods, or engage more effectively with companies. In addition, the discussion looked at how new financing initiatives and innovations—such as direct funding models and rightsholder-led mechanisms—are shaping the enabling environment for these types of collaborations.

Workshop on Pooled Fund Feasibility for Rightsholders Engaging with Nature-Based Markets

This was a technical meeting to review the findings of a feasibility study for a pooled funding mechanism to provide legal and technical support to communities impacted by nature-based markets. The event highlighted the urgent need for unbiased, pooled funding to support Indigenous Peoples and local communities engaged in carbon projects. It also considered how the fund can respond to both community needs and private sector priorities.

“When it comes to carbon market projects and all related finance issues, investment in the Amazon and its communities is essential. Such groups are among the most vulnerable due to their direct dependence on the ecosystems, which makes them central actors in conservation and sustainable management. Climate finance must be based on an integrated approach advancing mitigation actions, sustainable strategies to stop deforestation, and targeted adaptation measures for Indigenous Peoples and local communities.” — Claudia Zúñiga Carrillo, Derecho, Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (DAR), Peru

Path to Scale Meeting

This convening of the Path to Scale brought together an informal network of donors, financial mechanisms, and intermediaries. The Path to Scale works to scale up funding and create the conditions needed to secure land and resource rights, conservation, and livelihoods for Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant Peoples, and local communities to the levels necessary to meet 2030 global climate and biodiversity targets.

During the meeting, participants assessed progress on the first Forest Tenure Pledge, which was launched at COP26 in 2021. They also proposed next steps to address the urgent funding gap, with a renewed pledge expected to be announced at COP30 later this year.

The event featured the launch and presentation of the second edition of the State of Funding for Tenure Rights: Donor Funding for Indigenous Peoples, Local Communities, and Afro-descendant Peoples (2011–2024). This updated analysis examines international donor funding to communities over the past decade. Despite some growth, the report reveals that funding for tenure rights still accounts for less than 1 percent of total climate aid. Moreover, funding levels have gradually declined since peaking in 2021, raising concerns about waning donor momentum.

If current trends continue, the report warns of a $2.9 billion funding gap toward achieving the $10 billion Path to Scale target, reinforcing the urgent need for renewed and scaled-up commitments.

LED Billboard Truck Campaign with deCOALonize

In partnership with deCOALonize Kenya, a truck equipped with LED screens displaying messages about urgent global land and climate justice issues traveled to strategic points across Manhattan to highlight the threats posed by the proposed Lamu coal plant and coal mining in Kitui, Kenya.

The campaign called for the rejection of coal projects that endanger communities, heritage, and the environment, as well as investment in clean, renewable energy. The truck stopped at Kenyan government offices, UN institutions, and financial hubs linked to energy investment.

Day 2: Defending Territories, Elevating Pastoralist Leadership

Collective Protection for Climate Justice

This event spotlighted the leadership of Indigenous Peoples and Afro-descendant Peoples in advancing climate solutions rooted in territorial defense and community resilience. Panelists discussed vital components of collective protection, including community patrols, legal empowerment, and intergenerational knowledge transmission. Breakout discussions explored how donors, governments, and civil society can better support these frontline approaches and align policy with rights-based actions ahead of COP30.

“The insecurity of Indigenous Peoples’ land rights leads directly to human rights violations.” — Dinamam Tuxá, Executive Director of APIB

The event also served as a platform to launch the report, Protecting Communities to Save the Planet, which highlights how current climate frameworks often overlook the risks faced by grassroots activists, Indigenous Peoples, and local organizations defending their land, rights, and the planet.

From Grazing Lands to Global Goals: Elevating Indigenous Pastoralist Knowledge in Shaping Nature-Based Solutions

In partnership with the Mainyoito Pastoralists Integrated Development Organization (MPIDO), CLARIFI and RRI co-hosted an event focused on the vital role of Indigenous pastoralist knowledge in shaping nature-based solutions. Panelists explored the need to strengthen Indigenous pastoralist movements and leverage evidence-based research to reshape narratives about pastoralism in Africa.

A key issue raised was the ongoing lack of climate finance reaching Indigenous pastoralist organizations and communities, and the importance of building alliances to shift this reality.

The event opened with a powerful poem by Andrew Msami:

“Under the fires of the savannah, under the watchful gaze of Kilimanjaro, we stand as one, unbroken, united, and that is a big weapon for us. Our spears may rest but our hearts are warriors still. With each beat, they echo unity, strength, and pride.” — Excerpt from Andrew Msami’s (PINGOs’ Forum Tanzania) poem “We are Maasai”

LED Billboard Truck Campaign: “The Pledge We Want”

Continuing mobile advocacy across New York City, donor accountability was the focus of the second LED truck campaign. On September 24, the truck circled financial hubs and major institutions, calling for renewed and expanded financial commitments at COP30.

The message was clear: without secure land rights for Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant Peoples, and local communities, global climate goals cannot be met. The urgent need to bridge the climate funding gap was also amplified by the campaign.

Day 3: Centering Ethnic-Racial Justice in Global Climate Policy

Ethnic-Racial Justice and Climate Justice: The Importance of Recognizing Afro-descendant Peoples and Communities in Latin America and the Caribbean at COP30

This event focused on advancing the recognition of Afro-descendant Peoples as collective rightsholders within the UNFCCC framework. It highlighted the critical need to secure their inclusion in COP30 commitments, Nationally Determined Contributions, and access to direct climate finance.

An emphasis was placed on the vital leadership of Afro-descendant women in climate action and biodiversity stewardship, while fostering stronger alliances among coalitions working on tenure rights, territorial governance, and climate justice.

“The climate crisis is also a racial crisis.” — Leticía Leobet of Geledés, Black Women’s Institute

During this event, RRI and Brazil’s Ministry of Racial Equality signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to elevate the leadership of Afro-descendant Peoples ahead of COP30. The agreement strengthens the International Commission of the Circle of Peoples, centering the voices of Afro-descendant Peoples in global climate talks.

The MOU represents a shared commitment to recognizing Afro-descendant Peoples as collective subjects of rights, ensuring territorial ownership and protection, securing direct access to climate finance, and guaranteeing full participation in global climate decision-making.

The Implementation of the Brazzaville Declaration

This high-level side event, which included support from the President of the Republic of Congo, advanced the implementation of the Brazzaville Declaration. Adopted at the First Global Congress of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities in May 2025, the declaration calls on governments to recognize, protect, and guarantee the rights and inclusion of Indigenous Peoples and local communities. The event urged concrete commitments on land rights, territorial protection, Free, Prior and Informed Consent, traditional knowledge, and direct access to climate finance.

Together, these events underscored the profound interconnection between ethnic-racial justice and climate justice, reinforcing the need for concrete action to recognize and support Indigenous Peoples’, Afro-descendant Peoples’, and local communities’ collective rights to land and resources. It also highlighted the importance of expanding equitable access to climate finance, which is essential to achieving truly inclusive and effective climate solutions in the lead-up to COP30 and beyond.

For interview requests or media inquiries, please contact:

Nicole Harris / WhatsApp: +1 514 266 9020

About the Rights and Resources Initiative: The Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) is a global coalition of 21 partners and over 200 collective rightsholders’ organizations and their allies working to advance the land and resource rights of Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant Peoples, and local communities. Through research, convening, and direct support, RRI helps shift power and resources to those who protect the world’s most critical ecosystems. For more information, visit www.rightsandresources.org.

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