As Brazil prepares to host COP30, the country faces a defining paradox: The Indigenous peoples, Afro-Brazilians, and traditional communities who have safeguarded the Amazon rainforest for centuries remain largely excluded from the climate finance mechanisms meant to protect it. A pilot project combining Indigenous knowledge and AI may show a better path forward.
Today’s AI systems are too often developed and operated in isolation from the communities whose land they monitor, resources they use, and futures they affect. The Instituto Identidades do Brasil, or ID_BR, is working to solve that problem. In 2024, ID_BR launched DEB — which stands for Diversity, Equity, and Belonging — an approachable artificial intelligence platform that people can chat with via Instagram.
DEB draws on sources like the Articulação dos Povos Indígenas do Brasil (APIB), representing Indigenous voices and rights, and ID_BR’s proprietary “Yes to Racial Equity” database, built from years of Afro-Brazilian leadership, research, and practice.
DEB, which began with a $250,000 investment followed by a $750,000 grant from Google.org, is proving that technology designed with and for marginalized communities can deliver both impact and returns. With strategic support from LEBEC, an innovative finance company, ID_BR is scaling DEB’s reach across the education, corporate and financial sectors.
For example, DEB is supporting a hospital in Brazil, where staff use the platform to address complex race and gender issues in patient care and workplace relations. DEB is also supporting public schools in Rio de Janeiro, where students and educators use it to foster cultural competency and inclusive learning environments.
While the current focus is on workplace and classroom equity, DEB’s roadmap goes further. ID_BR and its partners are collecting insights from Indigenous and Quilombola communities, many of whom are frontline actors in climate and social resilience. Future iterations of DEB will embed these voices.
A future shaped by inclusive AI
As co-founders of the organizations behind DEB, we have seen what is possible when we design AI ecosystems built on principles of racial equity and community partnership — and what we have seen is just the beginning.
Imagine AI systems that integrate centuries of Indigenous knowledge into climate prediction models. Consider the potential of blockchain-based carbon markets that compensate Indigenous communities for forest preservation. AI-powered financial tools could assess the value of traditional land management practices, making them bankable assets in global climate markets.
These are no longer hypotheticals. They’re within reach — if we build intentionally. With 97 million new jobs projected by 2030 due to AI and automation, now is the time to ensure these systems are built with, not just for, communities on the front lines of climate change and social inequality.
Brazil’s leadership moment and global implications
Despite comprising half of Brazil’s population and demonstrating the lowest deforestation rates and best conservation outcomes, Black and Indigenous leaders are grossly underrepresented in climate policy and investment decisions. Their absence leads to missed opportunities in biodiversity conservation, land stewardship and sustainable infrastructure.
When those most affected by climate change are left out of leadership and investment opportunities, we don’t just lose equity — we lose effectiveness. The result is a slower transition, diminished innovation, and untapped climate solutions sitting on the sidelines.
As COP30 nears, Brazil has an opportunity to demonstrate that inclusion is not a trade-off — it’s a multiplier. Climate policy and finance grounded in equity lead to stronger, more stable growth. Economies are more resilient when powered by the full spectrum of their people. And AI systems are more effective — and more trusted — when built in partnership with the communities they serve.
For investors seeking exposure to high-growth markets, climate-linked infrastructure and future-ready technologies, the question isn’t whether to engage, but how. Inclusive strategies are the most effective way for investors to mitigate risk and build a thriving future.
Luana Genot is the founder and CEO of Instituto Identidades do Brasil. Alix Lebec is the founder and CEO of LEBEC and limited partner in Polymath Ventures. Julia Wilkinson is the managing partner and chief investment officer at LEBEC.
