The Dedicated Grant Mechanism (DGM) is a CIF financing window that provides direct grant support to Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLC) so that they can contribute time-tested approaches to protecting and managing the natural environment. Empowering IPLCs in this manner is key to delivering climate action.
Indigenous knowledge, accumulated over centuries, can offer sustainable solutions to mitigate and adapt to climate change. About 90% of IPLC lands are carbon sinks, and Indigenous-managed areas have been shown to sequester over twice the amount of carbon as other lands. IPLCs also protect around 80% of the world's remaining biodiversity.
DGM financing is delivered through two CIF investment programs. First, since 2014, $70 million has been allocated through the Forest Investment Program. In addition, $40 million in grant funding to support IPLCs in countries selected as part of the Nature, People and Climate program was approved by the CIF governing board in 2023.
DGM has a proven track record in building trust, inclusion, and a sense of ownership; meeting community needs; building capacity; empowering women; and fostering transparent governance. It empowers IPLC to sustainably manage natural resources, restore land access, and embrace climate action by applying local and traditional knowledge.
To date, the DGM has been implemented globally by the World Bank, with funding reaching communities directly through a unique governance model conceived and managed by IPLCs themselves. At the country level, DGM provides grants and technical support on the ground. At the global level, IPLCs share knowledge and best practices and manage the overall program through elected representatives.
Peru: The DGM partner community, Saweto, titled more native lands than all other governmental initiatives. 133 communities achieved recognition of their claims to approximately 400,000ha of land and 253 native communities were recognized. Deforestation in titled native communities is lower than in communities without assigned rights to land.
Burkina Faso: DGM funding has supported the empowerment of women and communities in protecting their surrounding forest areas. It also led to an increase in income. This was done through projects such as an animal husbandry initiative designed by women from the Allah Wallou dairy processing cooperative and improved marketing of non-timber forest products such as soumbala, a popular West African condiment derived from fermented seeds.
Gender-responsive Nature-based Solutions can address underlying vulnerabilities to climate change and unlock opportunities for equitable socio-economic development.