The indigenous peoples of the Amazon are especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. As part of the efforts to promote the empowerment of these communities, GlobalCAD has created a Green Fund Search Tool, which will allow these populations to access the financial means to implement the communal reserve management model, among others.

Mi fondo verde provides a search engine for the green funds identified throughout the project. The main objective of the tool is to allow managers of ECAs (Administrative Contract Executors) or members of Communal Reserves to find the funds that best fit their financing needs.

A green fund is a financing mechanism that invests exclusively in socially responsible organizations, which promote environmental protection. It can be focused on companies that support the environment, boosting renewable energy, green transport, water and waste management, or sustainable living.

The tool is developed under the framework of the project “Scaling up the congestion model of Communal Reserves to reduce emissions and increase the resilience of indigenous peoples in the Peruvian Amazon”, developed together with CESAL and in collaboration with the North American environmental organisation Conservation International.

The project responds to the need to create a fund for the establishment of conservation businesses. This fund will involve public and private organizations, to provide technical and financial assistance to the Communal Reserves, thus implementing an effective form of sustainable management.

To this end, the tool allows to filter the funds according to different criteria: economic dimension of the fund, territorial approach, thematic approach and type of financial support. The results obtained from each search can be downloaded in Excel format. In addition, each funding mechanism includes a personalised sheet with information on the fund application process and the main requirements. Communities can download the sheets and, if they consider it necessary, also add further information.

The current list of funds is not definitive and will be expanded in the light of new funding mechanisms. It is also proposed to convert it into a comprehensive tool by extending services within the platform. These services will include a training section with courses, a list of actors to generate possible alliances, or a repository of previous experiences of green businesses, among others. In this way, the platform has the potential to become a catalyst of opportunities for the development of green businesses, as well as a meeting point for organisations that want to access them.

In this sense, GlobalCAD has proposed a series of implementation scenarios for the next 12 months, with the aim of improving the platform through new functionalities and ensuring that it is useful and effective for Community Reserves.

Pablo Tierno

Pablo is a graduate in Economics at Pompeu Fabra University and holds an MSc in International Business from the University of Leeds.