As the climate crisis escalates, so too does the urgency of amplifying the voices of those most impacted. At Global Greengrants Fund, we believe that lasting environmental justice depends not only on policies and advocacy but on powerful, truthful stories rooted in lived experience. That is why we were proud to join fellow climate funders and media outlets to support the House of Socio-Environmental Journalism at COP30 to amplify the voices of frontline communities, Indigenous Peoples, and environmental defenders across the Amazon and beyond.
The House brought together an unprecedented network of more than 20 independent media outlets, including InfoAmazonia, uniting journalists from across Brazil to share reporting, resources, and workspace throughout the COP. The goal was simple yet transformative: ensure that coverage of COP30 does not center only on official negotiations and global north voices—but gives space to the people living at the frontlines of forest destruction, climate disruption, and environmental injustice. At Global Greengrants, supporting journalism like this is part of our strategy to shift dominant narratives and amplify the voices of those on the front lines: defenders, organizers, and storytellers who expose harmful practices and propose real, community-led solutions. Real climate solutions come from the ground up—rights-based, locally-led, rooted in justice. More than creating space, this support centers the ideas and voices of the global majority, building power and fostering fertile ground for more impactful and relevant climate solutions. We’re proud to help bring these truths forward at a moment when the world is listening.
The series we supported below shares a clear and urgent message: frontline communities from the Amazon to Africa are not only resisting the worst impacts of the climate crisis—they are defining the real solutions. As thousands mobilized in Belém to deliver the People’s Charter to COP leadership, environmental defenders underscored that justice begins with resourcing those who risk their lives to protect land, water, and ancestral territories. Women defenders like Juma Xipaia and Joanita Babirye, both Global Greengrants grantee partners, exposed the compounded violence, political erasure, and funding barriers they face, calling on COP30 to recognize and support the leadership of those most rooted in the struggle. At the same time, investigative reporting revealed how “false climate solutions”—from carbon trading schemes to large-scale extractive mega-projects—are accelerating across the Amazon under the guise of being “green,” while those defending forests and building resilient community-led alternatives more impactful in sequestering carbon are underfunded and putting their lives on the line to do so.
Our takeaway: These articles help illustrate what Global Greengrants has been saying for decades—that just and impactful climate action demands rejecting harmful market-driven interventions and centering the knowledge, power, and priorities of Global South grassroots movements fighting for the survival of their territories.
People’s Charter delivered to the COP president after mobilization gathering thousands in Belém
Environmental Defenders from the Global South Show Why Climate Justice Starts with Funding
Women Environmental Defenders from the Amazon and Africa Draw Parallels from the Frontlines of the Climate Crisis at COP30
False Climate Solutions Advance in the Amazon as COP30 Discusses the Planet’s Future
Additionally, in Belém, Global Greengrants Fund joined allies at a critical House of Socio-Environmental Journalism media roundtable on the protection of land and environmental defenders—marking the launch of the LEAD Initiative (Land and Environmental Defenders). Defenders, particularly women and Indigenous leaders, are safeguarding ecosystems that sustain the planet. Yet they face escalating risks for protecting their territories and asserting their rights. Their leadership is not only courageous—it’s essential for achieving climate justice, biodiversity protection, and a just transition.
At Global Greengrants, we’ve long recognized that resourcing environmental defenders is one of the most effective climate actions philanthropy can take. Through our global network of advisors and partners, we fund and accompany women environmental defenders across the Amazon, Africa, and Asia, ensuring their voices shape policies and their safety and leadership are prioritized.
As the LEAD Initiative takes root, we stand in solidarity with defenders everywhere—and call on the global community to do the same: Protect those who protect the planet, fund their leadership, center their wisdom in climate action.
Our support for narrative change work as an advocacy tool isn’t new, specifically, support for women environmental defenders. In an effort to draw attention to the systemic violence women defenders face, to connect Global South movements to build movement power, to create learning opportunities to deepen understanding about the root causes of the climate crisis, and how to support women on the frontlines, we invested in a series of collaborative reports beginning in 2021 with:
Women on the Frontlines of Extractivism: How Funders Can Support Women Environmental Defenders
and most recently with:
A Holistic Approach to Funding Women Environmental Defenders in 2024
