For the first time in over 30 years of global discussions on the climate agenda, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Caribbean (UNFCCC) has referenced Peoples of African descent in core negotiation documents released at the conclusion of the meeting, including texts on Just Transition, Gender Action, and the Global Goal on Adaptation.
During COP30 in Belém, the governments of Brazil and Colombia, together with the Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI), officially announced the launch of the Acceleration Plan for Solutions for Afro-descendant Peoples (PAS Afrodescendiente) 2026–2030, the first regional initiative dedicated to accelerating the answers to the historical gaps in territorial recognition, environmental governance, and financing for Afro-descendant Peoples in Latin America and the Caribbean.
New alliance amplifies youth leadership and calls for justice-centered climate action at COP30
The Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) today announced the next phase of its global coalition strategy, From Rights to Livelihoods: Advancing Collective Economies for People and Planet, with the launch of a new Collective Livelihoods and Enterprise Network. The initiative, unveiled during a high-level session at COP30, represents a major step in linking land rights, sustainable livelihoods, and conservation through community-led economies.
As global leaders prepare to gather in Belém, Brazil, this November for the 30th UN Climate Conference (COP30), the Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) and its global partners are calling for the summit to serve as a turning point for Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant Peoples, and local communities who safeguard the world’s forests and biodiversity.
Novo relatório mostra progresso inconsistente em nível nacional em relação aos direitos de posse de terras para Povos Indígenas, Povos Afrodescendentes e comunidades locais
New report shows inconsistent domestic progress on tenure rights for Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant Peoples, and local communities
Rainforest Foundation Norway and the Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) have released the second edition of The State of Funding for Tenure Rights.
Over 50 young leaders from Indigenous, Afro-descendant, and local communities across Asia, Africa, and Latin America will gather in Bali, Indonesia, for the first-ever Global Youth Forum.
This new report highlights RRI's twenty years of impact on communities’ collective land and resource rights and outlines the path forward to secure their future worldwide.
Dalam perayaan ulang tahun ke-20 di Kathmandu, Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) mengumumkan para pemenang Penghargaan Aksi Kolektif perdana. Penghargaan ini diberikan sebagai bentuk penghormatan kepada Masyarakat Adat, Masyarakat Keturunan Afrika, dan komunitas lokal dari Afrika, Asia, dan Amerika Latin atas kepemimpinan mereka dalam memperjuangkan hak kolektif atas tanah, hutan, dan sumber daya.
Durante a celebração de seu 20º aniversário em Katmandu, a Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) anunciou os vencedores de seu primeiro Prêmio de Ação Coletiva, que reconhece povos indígenas, comunidades afrodescendentes e populações locais da África, Ásia e América Latina por sua liderança na defesa de seus direitos coletivos à terra, às florestas e aos recursos naturais.
At its 20th anniversary celebration in Kathmandu, the Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) announced the winners of its inaugural Collective Action Awards. The awards honor Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant Peoples, and local communities from Africa, Asia, and Latin America for their leadership in defending their collective land, forest, and resource rights.
As South Sudan’s Parliament prepares to reconvene in the coming days, the South Sudan Land Alliance, a coalition of civil society organizations and land rights advocates, is calling on the Transitional National Legislative Assembly to prioritize the passage of the National Land Policy.
The First Global Congress of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities from the Forest Basins brings together forest guardians from the Amazon, Congo, Borneo-Mekong-Southeast Asia, and Mesoamerica. These territories, long safeguarded by Indigenous Peoples and local communities, are essential to the Earth’s biodiversity and carbon balance—providing powerful solutions to the climate crisis.
Decades after the world adopted what continues to be the most comprehensive roadmap for women’s rights, RRI’s latest report highlights enduring challenges in securing the rights of Indigenous, Afro-descendant, and local community women.
A new Afro-descendant Atlas, launched at the UN CBD CoP16, showcases for the first time the ancestral territories, rural settlements, and collectively owned lands of Afro-descendant Peoples across 15 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
A new study examining the state of global financing for Afro-descendant, Indigenous, and local community women launched at the UN CBD COP16 addresses a crucial lack of data on gender equity-focused funding and was launched by the Rights and Resources Initiative and the Women in Global South Alliance.
The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) has found PT Inecda Plantations, a subsidiary of Korea-based Samsung C&T Group and a certified member, in breach of its sustainability standards on the Indigenous Talang Parit territory in Indonesia.
A declaration released at a press briefing on June 15 highlights significant overlap between lands claimed by Afro-descendant Peoples in Latin America and the Caribbean and biodiversity hotspots; calling for the inclusion of the term Afro-descendants in the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
This platform helps coalition members, donors, and allies gain a better understanding of RRI’s global network and documents how each member contributes to the collective mission of advancing local peoples' land, territory, freshwater, and resource rights.
Rights and Resources Initiative and Rainforest Foundation Norway are thrilled to announce the launch of the Path to Scale dashboard, a new open-source online tool that gives easy access to donor funding data for Indigenous Peoples’, Afro-descendant Peoples’, and local communities’ tenure and forest guardianship.
The Rights and Resources Group’s Board of Directors has named as its newest members three global leaders in environmental, financial, and human rights advocacy: Emma Norrstad Tickner from Sweden; Emily Kinama from Kenya; and Peter “Mike” Bryan from the United States. They join Gam Shimray, an Indigenous Naga leader from Northeast India who joined in October 2023.
In the lead-up to COP28, amid a growing push to restore degraded and deforested lands as natural climate solution, a new peer-reviewed study shows better outcomes when Indigenous Peoples and local communities are in charge.