Five years ago, at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), the Ford Foundation joined a global coalition of governments and philanthropies that pledged a collective $1.7 billion USD to support the land rights and forest guardianship of Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and Afro-descendant peoples (IPs, LCs, and ADs). Today, we are proud to share our final update on Ford’s $100 million commitment to that pledge.
Surpassing Our Commitment
Between August 2024 and December 2025, Ford approved $41.5 million in funding aligned with the pledge’s goals. This final push brought our five-year total to $158.5 million*, exceeding our original $100 million commitment to provide support to 324 organizations. We surpassed our commitment by nearly 60% thanks to special funding from our Building Institutions and Networks (BUILD) initiative and the foundation’s social bond, issued in response to the COVID-19 crisis.
We are equally encouraged that the Forest Tenure Funder’s Group (FTFG), which convenes the signatories of the COP26 pledge, surpassed its $1.7 billion commitment during the first four years of the five-year pledge, signaling a shift in how the global community values the contributions of IPs, LCs, and ADs.
The Path to Direct Support
A central pillar of our commitment has been increasing direct support: funding that flows directly to IP, LC, and AD organizations and their territorial funds.
Over the course of the pledge, we provided $43.2 million in direct funding, representing 27% of our total pledge-aligned grants. This included nearly $6 million to Indigenous and territorial funds, such as the Nusantara Fund in Indonesia and various mechanisms across Africa and Latin America. These community-led funds are vital; they absorb the administrative and financial requirements of donors while channeling funds directly to communities on the ground. In this reporting period, 28% of aligned funding was direct.
Furthermore, Ford has emerged as a leading supporter of Afro-descendant and Quilombola organizations. We have channeled over $7 million directly to at least 16 such organizations, recognizing their indispensable role in climate mitigation and biodiversity conservation.
We are committed to growing direct support, yet we also value the strategic partners, such as fiscal sponsors and technical advisors, whom our grantees choose to work with. We have provided support to strengthen these connections to build a robust support system for frontline communities.
Investing in Resilience
Funding alone is not enough; we must also invest in the IP, LC, and AD organizations that manage these funds. Through initiatives like an accompaniment program, designed and led by Spring Strategies, and our BUILD initiative, we provided technical assistance in the form of cohort-based learning sessions, individualized technical support, and in-person gatherings to cement ties and foster learning among these partners. By strengthening the institutional capacity of these organizations, we ensure they have the autonomy to lead on their own terms.
A Renewed Commitment
The COP26 pledge was a watershed moment, but it also revealed where we must do better. Globally, the proportion of climate aid supporting these communities’ tenure rights remains less than 1%. Within the FTFG, only 7.6% of funding went directly to IP, LC, and AD organizations in 2024. This gap highlights a persistent challenge: the need for long-term, flexible support that respects and advances the goals of local peoples.
That’s why we were honored to support the development of the new COP30 Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and Afro-descendant communities Forest and Land Tenure Pledge. This new $1.8 billion commitment, endorsed by 39 government and philanthropic funders, expands its scope beyond forests to all land-based ecosystems. It also includes a renewed mandate to increase the share of direct, flexible, and long-term funding to IPs, LCs, and ADs.
Ford has committed $72 million for 2026–2030 toward this new pledge. As we move forward, we remain dedicated to transparency and accountability to our Indigenous, local community, and Afro-descendant partners. Investing in their land rights is investing in our collective future.
* In cases where funding to an organization also supports activities beyond those outlined in the pledge criteria, we have only counted the relevant portion of the grant amount toward the progress reported here. This total figure contains corrections to previously reported pledge contributions.
Organizations receiving grants aligned with pledge criteria and approved between August 1, 2024 and December 31, 2025:
A Rocha Ghana
Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP)
Agribusiness Watch
Akubadaura Community of Jurists
Alisos (Alianzas para la Sostenibilidad)
Alliance for Self-Determination and Autonomy (ALDEA) / Servicios y Asesoría para la Paz (SERAPAZ)
Amazon Watch
Amazônia Real
Ambiente y Sociedad
Ambulante
American Jewish World Service (AJWS)
Ancestral Domain Registration Agency (BRWA)
Article 33 Indonesia
Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB) / APOINME
Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP)
Asociación Comisión Paz y Ecología (COPAE)
Asociación de Cabildos Indígenas del Norte del Cauca (ACIN)
Asociación de Mujeres Afrodescendientes del Norte del Cauca (ASOM)
Asuntos del Sur
Bank Information Center (BIC)
Bicara Data Foundation
Black Communities Process (PCN) / Afro-Colombian Agency Hileros
Bojonegoro Institute
Brazilian Anthropological Association (ABA)
Brazilian Articulation of Indigenous Journalists (ABRINJOR) / Kaingáng Institute (INKA)
Brazilian Forum on Public Safety (FBSP)
BudgIT
Bufete Justicia para los Pueblos
Burness
Business and Human Rights Centre (BHRC)
Canopée
CARE Indonesia (Yayasan CARE Peduli)
Caribbean Central American Research Council (CCARC)
Casa Centroamérica
Catitu Institute
Center for Applied Legal Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand
Center for Democracy and Human Rights (CDD)
Center for Research and Popular Education (CINEP)
Center for the Study and Defense of Black People in Pará (CEDENPA)
Center of Black Culture of Maranhão (CCNMA)
Center of Reform on Economics (CORE Indonesia)
Centre for Public Interest Law (CEPIL)
Centre for Social Studies and Development (CSD)
Centro de Desarrollo de la Mujer Negra Peruana (CEDEMUNEP)
Chico Mendes Committee
Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH)
Climate Action Network (CAN)
Climate and Land Use Alliance (CLUA)
Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) Indonesia
Coaction Indonesia
Community Just Transition Fund
Conexiones Climáticas
Consortium for Agrarian Reform (KPA)
CooperAcción
Coordinating Association of Associations and Communities for the Integral Development of the Ch’orti’ Region (COMUNDICH)
Coordination of the Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB)
Creatura
Cultural Survival
Del Campo
Derecho Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (DAR)
Development Agenda Magazine
Diakonia
Djokosoetono Research Center at the University of Indonesia
Doc Society
DocsMX (International Documentary Film Festival of Mexico City)
Due Process of Law Foundation (DPLF)
Earthlife Africa Johannesburg
EcoHealth Alliance
Ecumenical Coordination of Service (CESE)
El Centro Sociojurídico para la Defensa Territorial – SIEMBRA
El Observador
Environmental Action Germany (DUH)
Environmental and Climate Justice Laboratory at the Ibero-American University
Equipo de Reflexión, Investigación y Comunicación (ERIC-SJ)
European Coalition for Corporate Justice (ECCJ)
Farmers for Forest Protection Foundation (Farmers4Forest)
FASE (Federation of Agencies for Social and Educational Assistance)
Festival do Rio
FITRA Riau
Fondo Tierra Viva
Forests & Livelihoods: Assessment, Research, and Engagement (FLARE) Network at the University of Notre Dame
Forests of the World
Foro Interétnico Solidaridad por Chocó (FISCH)
Friends of Lake Turkana
Friends of the Earth U.S.
Fund for Global Human Rights
Fundación Tosepan, A.C.
Global Alliance of Territorial Communities (GATC) / Rainforest Foundation US
Global Development Institute at the University of Manchester
Global Witness
groundWork
Harvard University Consortium on Afro-Latin American Studies
Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF)
Hivos
Honduran Black Fraternal Organization (OFRANEH)
HuMa
Human Rights Clinic of the Federal University of Pará (UFPA)
If Not Us Then Who?
ILEX Acción Jurídica
IM-Defensoras
Indian Law Resource Center
Indigenous Council of Roraima (CIR)
Indigenous Peoples of Asia Solidarity Fund (IPAS Fund)
Indonesian Center for Environmental Law (ICEL)
InPress Porter Novelli
Institute for Development and Peace Studies (INDEPAZ)
Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR)
Institute for Religious Studies (ISER)
Instituto de Defensa Legal (IDL)
Instituto Escolhas
Instituto Panamazonico (IPA)
Instituto Socioambiental (ISA)
Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC)
International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)
International Land Coalition (ILC)
International Relations Institute at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro
International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA)
Interstate Movement of the Babassu Coconut Breakers (MIQCB)
Justica Ambiental (Friends of the Earth Mozambique)
Justiça nos Trilhos (JnT)
Koalisi Seni
La Sandía Digital
Land Portal
Lembaga Alam Tropika Indonesia (LATIN)
Life of Pachamama / Fundación Hablemos
Lingkar Temu Kabupaten Lestari (LTKL)
London Mining Network
MADANI Berkelanjutan
MadreSelva Collective
Manka (Perkumpulan Mandala Katalika Indonesia)
Maya Ch’orti Pluriversity / Asociación Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología Maya Ch’orti’ Upejkna’r e Ja’
Mesoamerican Alliance of Peoples and Forests (AMPB) / ACOFOP
Movilizatorio
National Articulation of Indigenous Women Warriors of Ancestry (ANMIGA)
National Conference of Afro-Colombian Organizations (CNOA) / Corporacion Centro de Pastoral Afrocolombiana (CEPAC)
National Organization of Andean and Amazonian Indigenous Women of Peru (ONAMIAP)
Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI)
Niger Delta Stakeholder Initiative for Community Development and Empowerment (NDSICDE)
Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF)
O Joio e O Trigo
Observatory of Human Rights of Isolated Indigenous Peoples and of Recent Contact (OPI)
OECD Watch / SOMO
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
Oil Change International
OjoPúblico
Organización Nacional Indígena de Colombia (ONIC)
Organización para el Desarrollo Social y Productivo de los Pueblos Indígenas y Comunidades Afrodescendientes (SOCPINDA)
Oxfam America
Oxpeckers Center for Investigative Environmental Journalism
Palmares Laboratory Action
Peace Brigades International UK
Peruvian Trust Fund for National Parks and Protected Areas (Profonanpe)
Plataforma Internacional contra la Impunidad
Podáali – Indigenous Fund of the Brazilian Amazon
Politics and Urban Governance Research Unit at the University of the Western Cape (UWC)
ProPurús
Publish What You Pay Indonesia
PUPUK
Purnomo Yusgiantoro Center
Quilombo Ferreira Diniz
Quilombos National Association for Cooperation – Negra Anastácia
Ranu Welum Foundation
Religious for Peace Brazil / Interfaith Rainforest Initiative
Repórter Brasil
Resguardo Indígena Cañamomo Lomaprieta
Resource Conservation Initiative (RESCONI)
Resource Justice Network
Rumah Energi
SAGE Fund / New Venture Fund
Samdhana Institute
Sao Paulo Pro-Indian Commission (CPI-SP)
Satya Bumi
Selvagem
SITAWI
Social Promotion and Development (CESDER)
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP)
Solidarity Action Fund (FASOL)
SOMO
Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC)
Southern Africa Resource Watch (SARW)
Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute (SAFCEI)
Spaces for Change (S4C)
Spring Strategies
Stand.earth
Strategic Youth Network for Development (SYND)
Sustainable Markets Foundation (SMF)
Talanoa Institute
Tara Climate Foundation
Terra de Direitos
TINTA – The Invisible Thread
Travessia
Trees, Water & People
Uma Gota no Oceano
Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) Research Center for Politics and Government
WALHI (Indonesian Environmental Forum)
WoMin
World Resources Institute (WRI)
World Resources Institute (WRI) Indonesia
WWF Colombia
YAPPIKA-ActionAid
Yayasan Kompas Peduli Hutan (KOMIU)
Youth Climate Justice Fund / Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors
Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA)
Zuguni
A “ / ” indicates a fiscal sponsor arrangement, with the intended recipient followed by the organization serving as a fiscal sponsor. The list includes increases made to existing grants.
