In support of international efforts to address the impacts of climate change, the Scottish Government has confirmed funding for loss and damage, human rights and adaptation projects, as part of the £36 million Climate Justice Fund.
Recognising that communities in the Global South, who have contributed least to global warming, are being hit hardest by the impacts of the climate crisis, £540,000 Climate Justice funding will be awarded to nine Latin American organisations supporting indigenous groups.
This will be used to preserve forests and lakes in the Andes, support the needs of marginalised groups including women, and protect local ancestral knowledge, culture and language at risk of being lost due to migration forced by climate change.
The remaining funding will help communities prepare for the known impacts of climate change – such as flooding and drought.
It will also support research into the impact of climate change on human rights – as rising temperatures increase the levels of poverty, inequality and displacement experienced by communities across the globe.
It includes:
The injustice at the heart of the global climate crisis is why Scotland became the first country in the world to establish a Climate Justice Fund more than a decade ago and why we have led the way in being the first Global North country to commit funding to address loss and damage.
The impacts of climate change are already being felt by communities across the globe – and this funding from the Scottish Government will make a real difference to support those who have done the least to cause the climate crisis but are feeling its effects the most acutely.
It also underlines our commitment to advancing human rights as the impacts of climate change are felt by communities across the globe.
At COP30, I have advocated for a stronger role for devolved governments in international climate processes and policies. I have also amplified the voices of countries in the Global South – through Scotland’s role as Regions4 President and Under2 co-chair – and we will continue to play our part in tackling the climate crisis here in Scotland and across the world.
Scotland is also taking action domestically to help ensure we reach our net zero targets. Our recently published draft Climate Change Plan sets out over 150 actions to reduce emissions up to 2040 across different sectors, and is the first climate plan in the UK to set out the costs and benefits of policies.
– CLIMATE ACTION SECRETARY GILLIAN MARTIN, ANNOUNCING THE FUNDING AT THE COP30 UN CLIMATE SUMMIT IN BRAZIL
Background
The £36 million Climate Justice Fund includes the £5 million non-economic loss and damage programme, pledged at COP27. Funding pledge for loss and damage – gov.scot
The grants to the Latin American organisations will be managed by an organisation called the Climate Justice Resilience Fund.
List of successful applicants:
| Name of applicant | Location | Grant | Overview |
| Programa de Desarrollo Integral Interdisciplinario (PRODII) | Bolivia | £95,050 | To address the losses associated with failing food and water systems in communities whose development has been neglected, and whose youth are migrating, resulting in further loss of ancestral knowledge and culture. |
| CHIRAPAQ – Centro de Culturas Indígenas del Perú | Peru | £95,050 | To support Quechua youth to reclaim and protect their culture and language, and strengthen their capacities to identify and engage in lives they choose to live rather than those they are forced into through migration. |
| Centro de Investigación y Promoción del Campesinado (CIPCA) | Bolivia | £95,050 | To strengthen the resilience of climate-affected families along the Bolivia–Peru border while addressing non economic loss and damage priorities – such as psycho-social support, school reintegration, and women’s community health leadership – in ways that are grounded in ancestral knowledge. |
| Proyecto Andino de Tecnologías Campesinas (PRATEC) | Peru | £95,050 | For the project “Weaving Wisdom: Youth for Living Memory,” which enables leadership of Andean youth in the recovery of ancestral knowledge of both culture and agriculture in the face of the non-material losses caused by climate change. |
| Uru Uru Team | Bolivia | £95,050 | To support Indigenous youth and women-led work that is deeply rooted in and responsive to the community it serves, including Indigenous knowledge-based solutions to restore forest and lake ecosystems and a digital archive to capture culture and traditions that are being lost. |
| Liga de Defensa del Medio Ambiente (LIDEMA) | Bolivia | £28,705 | To support youth-led teams to identify the non-economic losses and damages being experienced in their communities, as well as entry points for building this information into risk management plans to inform future climate projects. |
| Colectivo de Coordinación de Acciones Socio Ambientales (Colectivo CASA) | Bolivia | £28,705 | For young Indigenous female environmental defenders to lead a community process to collaboratively identify and synthesise the non-economic loss and damage being experienced by women, and create easy-to-use materials that will raise these issues with a wider population, especially youth. |
| Fundacion Barranquilla+20 | Colombia | £28,705 | To a youth-led organisation that will use inter-generational and feminist approaches to develop a community-led process to understand the losses being faced and support community members to address these losses – especially through recovery of ancestral knowledge, mental health support, and advocacy for future action. |
| Fundación Mujeres Poderosas Sembrando Vida, Cultivando Comunidad y Identidad (fiscally hosted) | Colombia | £28,705 | For their deeply community-based work that promotes community care mechanisms – such as self-care circles, schools of ancestral knowledge, and inter-generational healing spaces – to address loss and build resilience. |
The UN Special Rapporteur grant will support international research on the impact of climate change on human rights and work on taking a human rights-based approach to preparing for the impacts of climate change.