Climate and Nature in the View of Amazonian Communities
GlobeScan’s Voices of Forest Peoples report is based on in-depth listening with Indigenous, Quilombola, riverside, extractives communities, and family-farming communities in the Brazilian Amazon, conducted in the context of COP30. The study recognizes that, although these peoples represent a smaller share of the population, they help protect most of the region’s conserved territory. Their voices show that the climate crisis is already a concrete reality—disrupting rainfall patterns, food production, rivers, and biodiversity—and that communities are continually adapting, drawing on traditional knowledge and local practices.
At the same time, the report highlights a stark mismatch between the level of responsibility attributed to governments, companies, and international organizations and the low levels of trust placed in them. The findings suggest that keeping the forest standing depends on fair conditions: effective support, secure and protected incomes, access to markets, consistent public policies, and opportunities for young people to remain in their regions. More than a diagnosis, Voices of Forest Peoples is an invitation to rethink development strategies by centering those who depend on the forest—and who are its primary guardians.
Key Findings
- The climate crisis is already being felt across the Amazon and requires ongoing adaptation.
- A lack of support is eroding communities’ trust in businesses and local governments.
- Income-protection financing mechanisms are preferred over more complex options, such as carbon markets.
- The bioeconomy is seen as a promising path because it links income, dignity, and conservation—but its success depends on justice, social and market infrastructure, and the leadership of those who live in and care for the forest.
