Daniela Lerda, Nia Tero's senior director leading our work in Amazonia, speaks at an event during Climate Week NYC in September 2026. Courtesy of Goals House.
October 1, 2026
New York Climate Week Conversations Spotlight Indigenous Peoples’ Guardianship as Integral Climate Solution
Panelists at Devex forum: L-R: Nia Tero founder Peter Seligmann, Nia Tero board member Anne Marie Burgoyne and Nia Tero CEO 'Aulani Wilhelm (Kanaka ʻŌiwi, Hawai’i) / Via Devex.
Whether among large groups of thought leaders and allies or intimate groups of donors and other stakeholders, Nia Tero’s team focused on expanding the reach of our vision – that Indigenous Peoples’ guardianship be enabled everywhere possible on Earth – during events at Climate Week NYC in September.
Executing this vision requires a shift across sectors to recognize Indigenous Peoples’ guardianship of our planet’s lands and waters as a time-tested, powerful climate solution. Additionally, for Indigenous Peoples’ guardianship to remain in place, those guardians must be free from violence, legal restrictions and other pressures faced worldwide. And it requires direct funding to the Indigenous guardians who may need it to continue caring for their territories as they have since time immemorial.
These important ideas were highlighted at a powerful panel titled “Pro Briefing: Rethinking Leadership for Climate Action: Lessons from Nia Tero.” Hosted by Devex, the discussion featured Nia Tero leadership including CEO 'Aulani Wilhelm (Kānaka ʻŌiwi), Nia Tero founder Peter Seligmann, Chairman of Silvania and Anne Marie Burgoyne, Interim President of the Waverley Street Foundation and a longtime Nia Tero Board Member. The event was an opportunity to bring Indigenous Peoples’ guardianship to the forefront in a space it is needed – with key actors in the climate arena including those who shape policy, narratives and finance. It focused on rethinking climate action leadership and building partnerships, governance and philanthropic approaches that recognize the importance of Indigenous Peoples’ knowledge in climate discussions.
Other Highlights from Climate Week NYC
Nia Tero’s presence at New York Climate Week reinforced a central message: Indigenous Peoples’ guardianship should not be treated as a side issue within climate discussions.
“Our main job is to help Indigenous People remain in place and, I would say, remain home,” Wilhelm said at the Devex event. “It’s undeniable that the best of what’s left on the planet is there because of Indigenous Peoples and it's the only time-tested thing that has kept nature, all of nature, including people, healthy and thriving.”
On average, tree loss in our Indigenous partners’ territories is four times lower than in surrounding areas, and in some cases up to 18 times lower.
“The thing is not just having Indigenous People doing this. How does this become the ethic for caring for the planet for all of us, right? How do we transfer that knowledge?” she asked.
Recognizing power within finance and policy structures means more than inviting Indigenous Peoples into conversations, as Indigenous Peoples’ guardianship in its own right has always been a powerful solution that has stood the test of time. It means trusting Indigenous knowledge and sharing decision-making authority in decisions that affect their communities.
“Trust us,” Wilhelm said. “The constructs of nation states maybe matter a little bit less than the constructs of nature and water flows and how people and animals move. We need to be paying attention to that.”
Burgoyne added, “Allyship is about what we bring, not what we say.”
The panel underscored that organizations seeking to shift power can begin by asking who sits on their boards, who leads them and who has decision-making authority.
Since our inception, Nia Tero has committed to providing direct financial and non-financial support, such as organizational strengthening for Indigenous organizations. This can include strategic planning, fundraising expertise and more. This has required the support of funders – private and philanthropic – to recognize how essential Indigenous Peoples’ guardianship is for protecting our planet.
Wilhelm urged funders to reconsider whose knowledge and leadership they invest in.
“There's no industry or economy on the planet that will survive or has made its money without the natural wealth of the world. So, who are the wealth keepers?” she asked, noting Indigenous Peoples’ contributions in protecting the healthiest places on the planet.
“There is a way that capital can be invested in protecting nature and clearly designed so that the peoples that are the caretakers and the stewards of so much of this earth, Indigenous Peoples, have the flow of resources that goes to them so they can make the choices as to how to take care of their place,” Seligmann said.
Bezos Earth Fund managing director Cristian Samper echoed this perspective in an interview with Devex.
"[Our experience] has reinforced our commitment to increasing the share of funding that reaches Indigenous Peoples and local communities with fewer barriers and greater local control,” he said. “It works best when organizations have the institutional capacity to manage the funding and when funders are prepared to provide sustained engagement, support and oversight.”
As Wilhelm put it: “Climate problems are complex, but the solutions don’t have to be.”
At a screening of the Nia Tero-funded film “Remathau: People of the Ocean” during Climate Week, moviegoers followed the story of Micronesian biologist Nicole Yamase. The
documentary spotlights her journey to the deepest part of the ocean that results in an even deeper dive of self-discovery as she reconnects with her oceanic roots.
“Remathau” illustrates the critical importance of Indigenous Peoples’ guardianship across the globe. It reminds us that oceans are not empty spaces. They are ancestral waters that have been navigated and cared for across generations. And the ethic of ocean guardianship, like Indigenous Peoples’ guardianship in all forms, is vital to the long-term viability of humanity and the rest of the natural world.
“The sort of magic in that film is that, deep into it, it became clear there was a big leading character – it was the ocean itself,” Nia Tero Strategic Advisor Chris Filardi told attendees. “And we are in the moment, where ocean can actually assert its citizenship on the biosphere and its constituencies that are most capable to most powerfully present that and express that are Indigenous Oceanic peoples."
As the film continues to earn awards at film festivals around the globe, stay tuned for showings near you by following Nia Tero on Instagram. And please join us in amplifying the power of Indigenous Peoples’ guardianship by resharing our messages.
- Centering Indigenous perspectives, the “Amazon Gold: The Fastest-Growing Blind Spot in the Climate, Nature, and Global Markets” event at Goals House explored how climate, biodiversity and economic development can be addressed through more connected approaches. It featured Jupta Itoewaki (Wayana), Indigenous leader from the Mulokot Foundation in Suriname and a Nia Tero Board member. It also featured Daniela Lerda, Senior Director of Nia Tero's Amazonia program alongside a representative from Amazon Aid.
- Our Chief Programs Officer Margarita Mora spoke at “Ownership in Practice: Indigenous Leadership and the Next Twenty Years of Restoration” at Terraformation. The session focused on sustaining Indigenous leadership and local ownership.
- Our Pasifik Strategy Lead Paul Roughan (Solomon Islands) spoke at the “Beyond GDP in Practice” Yale Planetary Solutions panel.
- At the second annual Nat Gala in NYC, which supports closing the approximately $700 billion nature finance gap, it was announced that The Nat Gala will head to Paris in April 2027 with a focus on Indigenous Matriarchs in galvanizing climate action. Nia Tero’s CEO, ‘Aulani Wilhelm is part of the circle of leaders that The Nat has put together to advise them on the upcoming Paris gala. Check out this Vogue article for more information.