Our Work

High-integrity forest carbon finance requires work at every level — from community training rooms to international standard-setting bodies. Here is how Kawari approaches that work.

Trusted and independent funding

Kawari provides a trusted source of funding to support the integration of safeguard requirements and processes in the design and implementation of jurisdictional forest carbon finance initiatives.

Through targeted grants, we work to enhance the skills and capacities of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities, to create an enabling environment that can ensure rights-based governance, and to support meaningful engagement with Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities that promotes human rights and respects self-determination, while ensuring alignment with ICVCM's high-integrity principles within the voluntary carbon markets.

Our grants span three continents.

Kawari Fund works across 12 countries and 25 jurisdictions in Africa, Asia, and Latin America — putting resources directly in the hands of the Indigenous Peoples and local communities who protect the world's forests.

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Rights in practice

Kawari focuses on the implementation of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities' rights. We do this by helping to ensure that the enabling conditions for the exercise of rights are in place, including updated legal frameworks that can support Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities while also ensuring that Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities are aware of these rights and processes.

Community-led, community-driven

We support efforts by Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities to increase their capacities to receive international funding directly. We recognize that strengthening and building this capacity will take time. Where needed, Kawari will work with trusted partners previously identified by Indigenous Peoples and Local Community-led organizations to provide closer and more targeted technical assistance to accompany the implementation of activities that advance the objectives of Kawari.

Bridging communities and governments

Kawari understands that for sustainable climate actions to succeed, governments must be fully involved. We strive to build bridges between communities and jurisdictional governments. Kawari will also support jurisdictional governments toward the development and implementation of their stakeholder engagement plans.

Independent by design

As an independent multi-donor fund, Kawari functions as a blind trust. Buyers and donors can support the infrastructure for transactions, without worrying about a perceived or real conflict of interest in the decision-making process of jurisdictional carbon finance initiatives, and therefore invest confidently in high integrity carbon markets (high in environmental and social integrity).

Strengthening global standards

Kawari supports efforts to increase the voices of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities in the elaboration, strengthening, and implementation of national and international standards related to forest carbon finance initiatives. This is done to ensure that these standards, legal and policy frameworks protect the rights and interests of Indigenous Peoples.

In addition to grantmaking, Kawari also contributes directly to these discussions, when appropriate. Some examples include:

  • Joint Submission – ART’s Beyond Carbon Benefits (BCB) Certification Standard (Draft June 2025)

    Climate, Law & Policy and Kawari Fund, 8 August 2025

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  • Joint Submission on ART's draft TREES 3.0

    Climate, Law & Policy and Kawari Fund, 19 September 2025

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  • Annex I – Safeguard Implementation Guidance for ART TREES 3.0

    Section 12

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  • Annex II – Guidance Note: Developing a High-Quality REDD+ Safeguard Information System

    SIS

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