The Persistent Gap Between Pledges and Reality
Despite major funding pledges for the Amazon, much of the promised capital never reaches the Indigenous peoples and local communities who depend on this ecosystem. This is the central challenge highlighted by Carolina Suárez Visbal, CEO, and Juan David Ferreira, project director of Latimpacto, a Colombia-based network mobilizing philanthropic and impact capital across Latin America. In an interview with Mongabay at the 2026 Asia Philanthropy Summit in Singapore, they explained that funding structures are often misaligned with on-the-ground realities.
“One thing that worries us at Latimpacto about capital deployment is that people keep announcing funds and initiatives, but when you trace the record, this capital turns out to be very difficult to actually mobilize,” Ferreira told Mongabay. “The investment thesis or the objectives of the fund do not align with the realities and the territories.”
The momentum from COP30 in Belém, Brazil, in 2025 has not yet translated into effective capital deployment on the ground. Ferreira noted that money often sits in bank accounts in New York rather than flowing to organizations delivering impact. Latimpacto also runs a Pan-Amazon Fellowship to address this.
Understanding the Amazon’s Diversity
Latimpacto has developed an investor education fellowship to reshape how capital is structured and deployed. The program trains funders to see the Amazon not as a monolithic rainforest but as a heterogeneous and dynamic place spanning nine distinct national contexts, including both isolated Indigenous communities and major cities like Manaus and Belém with over 2 million people each. The first edition of the fellowship has completed, and a second accelerated edition is starting in 2026. It includes online training in finance, conversations with Indigenous representatives and multilaterals, and an immersion at the triple border of Colombia, Peru, and Brazil.
Locally Led Innovation and Ancestral Knowledge
Through its InNature Lab, Latimpacto redefines innovation in an Amazonian context. The lab supports researchers and entrepreneurs who design solutions in direct collaboration with local communities, integrating ancestral knowledge. One project in the Guavinía region of Colombia is developing health and nutritional applications from fungi used by Indigenous communities for generations. Benefits and income flow back to those communities in a structured way, with no extraction of intellectual property.
“You need to centre your solutions on what the people in the territory are actually thinking about,” Ferreira said. “I think it is time now for philanthropy and concessional finance models to start rethinking how they can better adapt to what the territory actually needs.”
Beyond the InNature Lab, through the Green Climate Fund, Latimpacto will select 250 entrepreneurs, most of whom should be working in the Amazon. They aim to promote the Amazon as a regional concept across nine countries.
Strengthening Domestic Philanthropy and Tax Incentives
Latin American philanthropy remains heavily dependent on external funders. Suárez Visbal pointed to the need for government-led tax incentives to encourage philanthropists to formalize or increase their giving. “Philanthropic capital is uniquely positioned to take risks and to be patient in a way that government money and private sector capital are not,” she said. Helping governments understand philanthropy’s catalytic role could encourage regulatory developments.
Top funding priorities in Latin America are education, health, and employment, but interest in climate issues is growing, particularly climate adaptation and resilience, and leveraging nature as a solution. Most climate funding still comes from outside the region. Latimpacto is trying to incentivize more local philanthropists to engage.
Trust-based philanthropy is a growing trend, but mostly from outside the region. Grantmaking within Latin America tends to be project-based and transactional. The Luis von Ahn Foundation in Guatemala is a notable exception, doing trust-based grantmaking in education, women’s rights, Indigenous rights, and climate. Suárez Visbal and Ferreira emphasized the need for patient, flexible capital that trusts local organizations.
Latimpacto advocates for an all-hands-on-deck approach. Their conference, Impact Minds, will be held in Manaus, Brazil, from September 9 to 11, 2026, gathering local and international philanthropists, impact investors, corporate foundations, and Indigenous organizations. A dedicated day for families will be held at a lodge in the river to discuss climate and biodiversity.
Shifting from Results to Impact
Ferreira stressed the need to shift from measuring results (e.g., number of trees planted) to measuring impact (e.g., restored land, recovered biodiversity, social benefits). This applies to social impact as well.
Bridging Latin America and Southeast Asia
Both regions share similar challenges with tropical forests. Latimpacto’s leaders expressed interest in creating a genuine exchange of practices and building structures able to fund both regions. They see potential for a dedicated space for local philanthropies working on tropical forests—building on existing efforts like the Governors’ Climate & Forests Task Force—to collaborate and eventually create shared funding mechanisms to strengthen global socioecological resilience. Suárez Visbal noted that strengthening connections between Asia and Latin America, especially Southeast Asia, should continue.
The interview was conducted by Beverley Choo from Mongabay’s development team. This article is edited for clarity and length.