WBG Commitment

As a part of the World Bank Global Challenge Program on Forests for Development, Climate, and Biodiversity, Amazonia Viva will promote innovative solutions to deepen and broaden the support from the World Bank Group including the International Finance Corporation and Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, working in partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank Group under the umbrella of the Amazonia Forever program.

It will drive public and private investments in the Amazonia for greater impact through government finance, loans, grants, REDD+ financing, guarantees, and private sector investments.   

Amazonia Viva is based on country-anchored projects with action across three pillars:

A  Green Amazonia - Safeguarding natural assets for a healthy forest biome: Preserving standing forest; protecting Indigenous territories; territorial planning; maintaining ecological connectivity and clean and freeflowing rivers; restoring forests, and conserving biodiversity.

A Prosperous Amazonia – Fostering nature-smart and inclusive economic opportunities: Supporting bioeconomy value chains, and green and inclusive agriculture; promoting payments for ecosystem services, traceability, access to finance, carbon credit markets, sustainable livelihoods, sustainable urban jobs, and strengthening property rights.

A Livable Amazonia – Improving living standards of its population: Improving access to health, education, social protection services, and enhancing water quality, digital connectivity, clean energy, rural electricity, basic infrastructure and fostering sustainable and resilient cities.

From Commitment to Action

These are the latest developments under the Amazonia Viva initiative:

Under the Amazonia Viva initiative, the World Bank, Indigenous Peoples organizations of the Peruvian Amazonia (AIDESEP, ANECAP, CONAP, ONAMIAP), and the IDB gathered in Lima, Peru, on May 2024, to establish areas of collaboration in promoting sustainable development.

The discussion centered on access to direct financing to Indigenous Organizations, supporting them with technical assistance in administration, finance, and fiduciary issues, and incorporating traditional knowledge and culture into programs, among others. 

Also, a roadmap was established to identify joint actions and commitments, including a regular roundtable discussion between the World Bank, Indigenous Peoples organizations of the Amazonia, and other international organizations, and a proposal was settled to strengthen capacity within Indigenous Organizations with a special focus on youth. 

In April 2024, the Organización Nacional de los Pueblos Indígenas de la Amazonia Colombiana (OPIAC), the Organización Nacional Indígena de Colombia (ONIC), and the World Bank met in Leticia to establish a structured dialogue platform. The World Bank team also visited Tarapoto Lakes, a wetland protected under the Heart of the Amazonia (Corazón de la Amazonía) project within the Amazon Sustainable Landscapes 2 program, and presented the Colombia Country Climate and Development Report at a local think tank.

During this meeting, Indigenous organizations and the World Bank agreed to cooperate on issues of self-governance and territorial development.

Following up on this agreement, in May 2024, the World Bank met with the Mesa Permanente de Concertación Indígena (MPC), a dialogue platform between the Colombian government and the indigenous movement. This collaboration was expanded nationwide, leading to the search for innovative mechanisms for direct financing to communities. Workshops were also developed to strengthen their autonomy and governance (for example, on green financing).

Today, the World Bank Group and the MPC have a roadmap that places the visions and aspirations of indigenous peoples at the center of the development agenda.

During the 23rd session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) in New York City on April, 2024, Indigenous Peoples organizations of the Amazonia from Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru and Surinam and the World Bank explored synergies within their collective visions for the region. They discussed the necessity for safeguards and protocols that position Indigenous Peoples as key agents of change.   

The World Bank shared its new vision, Amazonia Viva, underscoring its commitment to supporting Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendants, and Local Communities in their crucial role of protecting the forests. The participating organizations highlighted the importance of increasing the involvement of women and youth and expanding initiatives led by Indigenous Peoples organizations particularly in climate finance, carbon credit markets, and transboundary cooperation.

More than a 100 representatives and experts from seven Amazonian countries participated in a workshop delivered by the World Bank and the IDB in Bogotá, Colombia, on May 2024, on high-integrity forest carbon credits and the enabling conditions required for their success. 

During the workshop, the participants discussed the building blocks of high-integrity carbon crediting (environmental, social, financial market), the links between biodiversity and carbon crediting, and the conditions for accessing carbon markets. 

With the renewed objectives outlined in the Belém declaration, the World Bank is supporting the ACTO—the intergovernmental coordination body of the eight Amazonian countries—to strengthen its management processes and implement new data tools to monitor environmental and social conditions.

A conversation with key philanthropic partners and business organizations on June 26, 2024, explored ways on how public and private actors can deliver concessional funding and other financial mechanisms to indigenous peoples to amplify their collective impact.