Green Futures – Innovation and Indigenous Economic Systems Change

Event Title: Green Futures – Innovation and Indigenous Economic Systems Change
Occasion: Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4)
Organizer: Indrani Pal-Chaudhuri, Green Transition, Innovation and Indigeneity Platform (GTIIP) The Regeneration Generation and Shakti Regeneration Institute

Purpose
This session explores how Indigenous wisdom and nature-based systems can drive systemic transformation toward regeneration, circularity, and community well-being. Moving beyond extractive models of short-term gain, it uplifts frameworks rooted in relational governance, shared responsibility, and ecological stewardship—aligning finance and innovation with Earth’s living systems.

Context
We face a cascading polycrisis: climate disruption, biodiversity collapse, inequality, and ecological underinvestment. The Amazon rainforest, nearing an irreversible tipping point, symbolizes the urgency. These crises demand systems change: shifting from siloed, extractive approaches to integrated, regenerative strategies. A key lever is the economic valuing of bio-cultural regeneration—recognizing ecosystems and communities as investible assets to protect and regenerate life.

Indigenous peoples, who steward over 80% of global biodiversity, offer governance rooted in reciprocity and intergenerational care. Paired with regenerative energy, sustainable off-grid AI, and circular economies, these models offer a holistic, scalable response.

Key Focus Areas

• Systems Change for Regeneration
• Community-Centered Innovation
• Responsibility Over Reward
• Economic Valuing of Nature
• Indigenous Governance and Knowledge
• Sustainable Off-Grid AI & Energy Infrastructure

Format (4 Hours)

• Ceremonial Opening & Land Acknowledgment
• Keynote Dialogues
• Panel I: Financing Nature & Biocultural Economies
• Panel II: Indigenous Innovation & Off-Grid Infrastructure
• Roundtables & Visioning Workshops
• Closing Commitments & Policy Recommendations

Expected Outcomes

• FfD4-aligned policy and finance frameworks for Indigenous-led regeneration
• Models for valuing nature and integrating circular, local governance
• Strategies for sustainable off-grid AI and energy infrastructure
• Partnerships to scale Indigenous-led protection of critical ecosystems

Core Message
To meet the polycrisis, we must transform how we value nature, who we empower to co-lead, and how we finance the systems that sustain life. The future lies in relationship, not extraction—and in listening to those who have stewarded Earth the longest.

Indrani Pal-Chaudhuri, Convenor

Pal-Chaudhuri is a filmmaker, futurist, founder of Shakti Regeneration Institute and Open Origin fueling the future. Fusing ancestral wisdom with cutting-edge innovation to scale systems change, her work has won over 45 awards including a Tribeca Film Festival Disruptive Innovator Award, two Cannes Gold Lions, shortlisted for an Academy Award, and featured at WEF Davos, COP Climate Summits, the Smithsonian, Lincoln Center, the British Film Institute, and the United Nations, where she was recognized as a Women’s Entrepreneurship Distinguished Fellow. An XPRIZE Rainforest Semifinalist, TEDx speaker, and Rotary International Global Peacemaker, Indrani’s work has inspired global action, earning over two billion media impressions. Raised volunteering with Mother Teresa, and mentored by David Bowie, she lectures at Princeton University on “Mobilizing Millions” and leads The Regeneration Generation, amplifying innovation and Indigenous leadership in the fight for a just and regenerative future.

INVITED SPEAKERS

Ailton Krenak, Indigenous leader, Environmentalist, Artist and Writer

Krenak is a highly acclaimed indigenous leader, environmentalist, philosopher, poet and writer from Brazil. Considered one of the great leaders of the Brazilian indigenous movement, Krenak is currently an honorary professor at the Federal University of Juiz de Fora (UFJF). His recently published books are Ideias para adiar o fim do mundo / Ideas to Postpone the End of the World in 2019 and O amanhã não está à venda / Tomorrow Is Not for Sale in 2020.

Mere Takoko, CEO Pacific Whale Fund

CEO and co-Founder of the Pacific Whale Fund, Takoko delivers transformative, Indigenous-led impactful actions. With many years’ experience working with Indigenous Peoples on circular economy and environmental initiatives, including clean tech innovations as a former Chief Executive of Divergent Investments. Mere has served on the New Zealand Climate Change Commission and as a Senior Advisor to the New Zealand Cabinet, the Minister for Māori Development and the Māori Affairs Select Committee.

Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, Co-Chair International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate An indigenous woman from Mbororo pastoralist community of Chad, Ibrahim is an advocate for the rights of indigenous peoples and the protection of the environment. She co-chaired the International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change (IIPFCC) and was  coordinator of the indigenous initiative and pavilion for COP21, COP22 and COP23. She was selected to represent civil society at the signing of the 2016 Paris Agreement. Recognized as a National Geographic Explorer, she serves as Senior Indigenous Fellow for Conservation International, won the 2019 Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award and the 2020 Refugee International’s Richard C. Holbrooke Award.

Célia Xakriabá, Federal Deputy of Minas Gerais

Xakriabá, a federal deputy representing Minas Gerais and a member of the Xakriabá people, was among those affected by tear gas during a peaceful indigenous rights march in Brasília on April 10, 2025. The demonstration was part of the Free Land Camp (ATL), an annual gathering of 200 indigenous groups to advocate for land rights, environmental protection, and cultural preservation. During the march, protesters were met with force by the Legislative Police and the Military Police of the Federal District, who deployed tear gas and stun grenades. Despite identifying herself as a parliamentarian, she was exposed to gas and required medical attention. The use of such measures against peaceful demonstrators, including women, elders, and children, was widely condemned by indigenous organizations and human rights advocates. The incident occurred amid heightened tensions over the “marco temporal” (timeframe) thesis, a legal interpretation that could significantly limit indigenous land claims. Indigenous leaders have been vocal in opposing this thesis, viewing it as a threat to their ancestral territories and rights. This event underscores the ongoing challenges faced by indigenous communities in Brazil as they continue to fight for recognition, rights, and protection of their lands.

Txai Suruí is an Indigenous leader and activist from the Amazon. Deeply committed to her culture’s ancient practices, she also embraces new technology. By using drones to protect ancestral forests and social media to amplify her message globally, she’s securing land rights and creating policy changes.

Carlos Nobre, Nobel Prize IPCC Scientist

Dr. Nobre is a leading Earth System scientist from Brazil. A graduate of MIT, Program Scientist of the Large-Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment (LBA), National Secretary of R&D of Ministry of Science and Technology of Brazil and President of the Federal Agency for Post-Graduate Education (CAPES). He authored the IPCC AR4, on the Savanization of the Amazon, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. He created the Amazon Third Way-Amazonia 4.0 Initiative, a new development paradigm based on a biodiversity-driven bio-economy utilizing modern technologies of the 4th Industrial Revolution.

Marina Silva, Minister of the Environment & Climate Change, Brazil  (In Discussion)

A politician and environmentalist, Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, 2003-2008, and current. Founder and ex- spokeswoman of the Sustainability Network (REDE). Ex-senator for Acre, federal deputy for the state of São Paulo. She ran for president in 2010, 2014, 2018. On Foreign Policy magazine’s list of top global thinkers^[6] for taking Green mainstream. She was one of eight people chosen to carry the Olympic flag for the opening ceremonies of the 2012 London Olympics.^[7]

Christiana Figueres, Earthshot, Ex-UNFCCC

The first Latin American to receive a DBE, as Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 2010-2016, Figueres directed 5 successful COPs and the Paris Agreement of 2015. She brought together governments, corporations, activists, institutions, communities, think tanks, technologists, and parliamentarians, to deliver unprecedented climate change agreements. Co-founder of Global Optimism, co-host “Outrage & Optimism” and co-author “The Future We Choose: Surviving the Climate Crisis”. A member of the B Team and a Board member of ACCIONA and ACCIONA Energía. She is Chair of The Earthshot Prize.

Susana Muhamad, President of COP16, Minister of Environment Colombia

Muhamad is a well-known environmentalist and the Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development of Colombia. Prior, she was Secretary of the Environment, Secretary General of the Mayor’s Office, Councilor of Bogotá, and Sustainable Development Consultant for Shell Global Solutions International in The Hague. Muhamad is consolidating Colombia as a world power of life, through protection of environmental defenders and the fight against deforestation in the Amazon region.

Al Gore, Former Vice President of the United States, Nobel Peace Prize Winner

45th US Vice President, Author An Inconvenient Truth #1 New York Times best-seller, The Assault on Reason and NY Times Best-sellers Earth in the Balance, Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis, The Future: Six Drivers of Global Change, and An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power. Subject of documentary “An Inconvenient Truth,” won two Oscars, and “An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power,” Gore was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Founder and chairman of The Climate Reality Project, founding partner & chairman of Generation Investment Mmt, co-founder of Climate TRACE, partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers,  on Apple Inc.’s board of directors, and member of the World Economic Forum’s board of trustees.

Paul Hawken, Environmentalist, Entrepreneur, Author, Economist  (In discussion)

Hawken starts ecological businesses, writes about nature and commerce, and consults with heads of state and CEOs on climatic, economic and ecological regeneration. His work has been profiled in hundreds of articles, he has written 9 books including 6 national and NYT bestsellers: Growing a Business, The Next Economy, The Ecology of Commerce, Blessed Unrest, Drawdown, Regeneration, in over 90 countries. He is the founder of both Project Drawdown and Project Regeneration- the world’s largest, most complete listing and network of solutions to the climate crisis.