Brazil Hosts COP30 Whilst its Climate Activists Watch from Outside: Frontline Youth Expose How Philanthropy Blocks Grassroots Solutions

Colonial funding structures systematically exclude Indigenous, quilombola and peripheral communities who are leading Brazil's climate action, new study reveals

Belém, Brazil, Nov. 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As Brazil hosts COP30, Global Fund for Children exposes a stark contradiction: Whilst young Brazilians from Indigenous, quilombola and peripheral territories are building climate solutions in their communities every day, colonial funding structures systematically exclude them from the resources and decision-making spaces needed to scale their work. COP30 exemplifies this crisis — the young people most affected by climate change face innumerous barriers to participate in the summit meant to address it, from high travel costs to the bureaucracy required to access the official conference space.

"This isn't a capacity problem — it's a power problem," said Thalita Silva, Programme Coordinator for Global Fund for Children's Climate Justice and Youth in Brazil initiative. “Young people from Indigenous, quilombola, and peripheral territories face violent bureaucracy and institutional language that exclude them. The problem is not their capacity — it’s funders who fail to recognize oral knowledge, spirituality, and community care as legitimate political action.”

According to the national research JUMA, 2023, 8 in 10 young Brazilians recognize the climate crisis is directly affecting their lives through mental health deterioration, food insecurity and feelings of hopelessness. Young people are already organising for climate justice, but cannot access support.

Funded by Global Fund for Children, Weaving Climate Solutions: Brazilian Youth Insights on the Role of Philanthropy in the Fight for Justice is the first participatory mapping study of its kind: co-created with 43 youth collectives and organisations across Brazil, it presents both damning critique and 21 detailed recommendations for how philanthropy must change — from simplified reporting to fair payment for activists' time, to support for mental health and activist security.

Brazilian Youth Insights on the Role of Philanthropy:

Young people from Indigenous, quilombola, Black and peripheral communities — particularly women — are at the forefront of climate justice work, combining ancestral knowledge with innovation, yet face systemic funding barriers
Environmental racism structures daily life in urban peripheries and traditional territories, yet these communities lead climate solutions
Technical climate terminology remains inaccessible, particularly for young Black people, those from peripheral communities and indigenous youth, creating barriers to participation in official climate spaces
The climate fight is intersectional and inseparable from the fight for human dignity, rooted in the defense of life, land, culture, and ancestry.

“Brazil hosts COP30, but the Brazilian youth most affected by the climate crisis can’t access the spaces, resources, or recognition needed to participate — and this exclusion isn’t only about money, nor is it limited to summits,” Silva explained. “It’s about power — about who gets to decide what counts as legitimate knowledge and whose voices are heard when shaping climate solutions.

When we offered grants with accessible criteria, the overwhelming response proved that the issue isn’t a lack of climate action — it’s a lack of funders willing to redistribute power and recognise youth-led solutions that are already happening in the territories every single day.”

Silva grew up in Manaus's Nova Floresta community, where rain leaked through the roof onto their beds — an early lesson in environmental racism. Now Thali is pioneering a model of philanthropy built from territories, not imposed upon them.

"Instead of creating ready-made initiatives and imposing formats, we start by asking: what already exists in the territories and how can we strengthen them?" Silva said. "Listening is also a way of acting, and redistributing power is, above all, a political act."

The study emphasizes that access to finance is not an operational detail but a question of power. In a country where the economic system privileges accumulation over historical reparation, financial resources become a condition of existence and resistance for youth collectives.

"Philanthropy cannot remain neutral," Silva stated. "Young people are already acting and building new possibilities that sustain life. Investing in them is a political commitment to climate justice and historical reparation."

Call to Action! The 21 recommendations to funders and the philanthropy sector includes:

Act as partners, not controllers
Provide flexible, direct funding without bureaucratic intermediaries
Simplify accountability requirements compatible with grassroots realities
Respect territorial knowledge and community rhythms
Pay activists fairly for their time
Support wellbeing, mental health and activist security
Fund political training, English lessons and participation in climate spaces
Recognize communication as part of social transformation

"We don't seek to speak to be 'inspiration'," Silva said. "What we want is to generate reflection and accountability."

As world leaders gather for COP30, these insights pose urgent questions: Will philanthropy and stakeholders enable the youth from Indigenous, quilombola and peripheral territories who are building climate solutions to have guaranteed access to resources, and effective participation in strategic climate spaces? Or will funding continue to flow to more institutionalized NGOs whilst grassroots collectives — who hold the solutions — remain locked out of both summits and ongoing climate finance?

"Young people aren't asking permission to lead climate solutions — they're already building them," Silva concluded. "The question is whether philanthropy will keep blocking their path or start walking alongside them "

Global Fund for Children’s climate work across Brazil receives funding through the Postcode Education Trust thanks to funds raised by players of the People’s Postcode Lottery.

ENDS

Weaving Climate Solutions: Brazilian Youth Insights on the Role of Philanthropy in the Fight for Justice was developed through participatory mapping with 43 youth organizations and collectives across 17 Brazilian states plus the Federal District, representing all five regions of Brazil. The project, made possible by players of the People’s Postcode Lottery, was co-created with 43 youth groups as co-authors, representing Indigenous communities, quilombola territories, urban peripheries and rural contexts from the Amazon to the Atlantic coast.

About the Weaving Climate Solutions Initiative:

The initiative supports 16 youth collectives across 10 Brazilian states with flexible, trust-based funding and advocates for climate justice ahead of COP30. The program uses an "EscutAção" (Listening and Acting) methodology that strengthens what already exists in territories rather than imposing external solutions.

Weaving Climate Solutions: Youth for Climate Justice - Global Fund for Children

About Global Fund for Children:

Global Fund for Children works in collaboration with community-based organizations to ensure children and young people have access to a dignified life, free from violence and with their rights fully guaranteed — including the right to participation and active citizenship. www.globalfundforchildren.org

Global Fund for Children’s climate work across Brazil receives funding through the Postcode Education Trust thanks to funds raised by players of the People’s Postcode Lottery.

Since 2020, players of People’s Postcode Lottery have helped GFC transform the lives of thousands of children and young people around the world

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