PRESS RELEASE
Amazon Investor Coalition Joins Global Citizen Festival and Announces Decade-Long $10 Million Philanthropic Commitment to Strengthen Forest-Positive Economies Across the Amazon
Belém, Brazil — November, 2025
On November 1, 2025, the Amazon Investor Coalition (AIC) announced pledges of $10 million in future philanthropic support for the Amazon over the next decade, marking a decisive step toward strengthening innovative, inclusive, and sustainable solutions across the Pan-Amazon region.
The announcement was made from the stage of the Global Citizen Festival Amazonia in Belém, Brazil — a landmark event celebrating climate action and the power of global cooperation ahead of COP30, alongside major musical artists including Chris Martin (of Cold Play), Gaby Amarantos (Brazilian singer from Amazonia), Charlie Puth, Anitta, Seu Gorge, Gilberto Gil and many others.
Founded on the principle that “the forest is worth more alive and standing than cut and burned,” the AIC brings together philanthropists, investors, corporate buyers, and community partners to drive regenerative economies that protect the forest while improving livelihoods.
“This new commitment reflects our belief that investing in the forest means investing in people — in their cultures, in their knowledge, and in the solutions that can inspire the world,” said Jonah Wittkamper, Co-Founder and CEO of the Amazon Investor Coalition. “Through collaboration, innovation, and shared vision, we can make the Amazon a model for a sustainable global economy.”
Concrete progress already underway
In August, 2025, the AIC announced its first grants totaling over $1 million in direct philanthropic support for 20 organizations and initiatives working across Brazil, Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador. These early investments demonstrate AIC’s capacity to connect diverse partners and channel catalytic resources toward impact-driven work that safeguards the world’s largest tropical forest.
Previously in 2025, the AIC helped to build the TeamWater campaign, of content creators MrBeast and Mark Rober, by connecting their film crew with the Serena community of the indigenous Kichwa people in the Ecuadorian Amazon. The campaign was successful, raising millions of dollars online in one month, to support clean water access for over two million people globally, including in the Amazon. Through its network and unique position in the philanthropic sector, the AIC was able ensure that the Amazon was given visibility in one of the largest philanthropic mobilizations for clean water in history. The TeamWater launch video has now be seen over 80 million times, with prominent recognition of the AIC.
Building on the momentum from TeamWater, and recognizing the Amazon as a central pump of the global water cycle, on August 31, the AIC helped to launch Amazonia Calling to mobilize celebrity support for indigenous demands leading up to COP30. With major personalities involved, and social media posts targeted at key decision-makers, the group’s message is expected to breakthrough the otherwise noisy media circus surrounding the COP30 climate negotiations.
Some of the big names involved include Jason Momoa, Alok (Brazilian DJ), Shawn Mendes, Mark Ruffalo, Jamie Lee Curtis and Jeff Bridges and key indigenous leaders such as Juma Xipaia, Majo Andrade Cerda, Laura Yawanawa, Helena Gualinga, and Chief Ninawa Huni Kui.
“Our unique strength lies in our connectivity — the ability to bring together communities, investors, and global audiences around a shared mission,” said José Mattos, Corporate Affairs Officer at AIC. “We see this new $10 million commitment not as a final goal, but as a foundation for long-term collaboration and learning.”
Beyond grantmaking, celebrity enrollment and advocacy, the AIC has also taken some important steps to recruit new philanthropic allies to support the Amazon. In partnership with the AIC, for example, writer and philanthropist Tui T. Sutherland announced a new line of toys to match her book series Wings of Fire (tens of millions sold), dedicating 100% of her royalties to the Amazon forest (announcement with the AIC). Though not formally announced yet, the AIC has also developed the Amazonia Philanthropy Network to help Sutherland and similar emerging donors. The Network serves a platform to help philanthropic families and grantmaking professionals to connect and engage in a peer-to-peer format to discuss new philanthropy for the Amazon region.
Also significant, it should be noted that future AIC grantmaking will also be integrated with the strategies of the Global Commons Fund.
Knowledge, partnerships, and thought leadership
Beyond financial commitments, the AIC also facilitates partnerships and conducts research to drive to evidence-based action in the Amazon through an integrated strategy that weaves together diverse sectors ranging from market readiness and legal compliance to supply chain traceability and the rule of law.
Together with LACLIMA – Latin American Climate Lawyers Initiative for Mobilizing Action, the AIC has developed legal, governance and investment analysis focused on climate finance mechanisms and just transition frameworks for the Pan-Amazon region. With Maparajuba Institute, the AIC supports legal assessments, mapping and capacity-building projects aimed at strengthening the rule of law, environmental governance, and institutional transparency in the Brazilian Amazon. And in collaboration with the Igarape Institute, the AIC co-published “Under the Radar,” a study outlining strategies for assessing and improving territorial and regulatory risks in the Colombian and Brazilian Amazon.
As part of its portfolio on Payments for Environmental Services, the AIC collaborates with the Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative (VCMI) to support the development of transparent and credible standards for carbon markets, aligned with social and territorial safeguards, including the report High Integrity Carbon Projects in the Brazilian Amazon, in November, 2025.
In addition, the AIC has expanded its thought leadership through its own publications and advocacy. During Berlin Climate Week 2025, the Coalition published the article “From Showcase to Territory: Invisible Infrastructures and the Future of the Amazon Bioeconomy”, highlighting the role of pre-competitive arrangements in shaping inclusive and regenerative markets. An upcoming AIC paper will address traceability and certification systems for sustainable value chains in the Amazon, in partnership with leading organizations and researchers from across the region.
About the Amazon Investor Coalition (AIC)
The Amazon Investor Coalition is a global platform that unites philanthropies, private investors, and corporate buyers with governments, nonprofits, and indigenous communities to promote a regenerative economy in the Amazon. Since its launch at the United Nations 75th Global Governance Forum in 2020, the AIC has served as a hub for learning, connection, and collective impact, advancing solutions that reduce deforestation, strengthen the rule of law, and empower Amazonian communities.
For more information, visit www.amazoninvestor.org.
Media Contact:
Communications Team – Amazon Investor Coalition
secretary@amazoninvestor.org
www.amazoninvestor.org
