Call for nominations: Equator Prize 2025

Equator Prize 2025: Nature for Climate Action

This year’s Equator Prize will recognize innovative initiatives that showcase how action on nature, led by Indigenous Peoples and local communities, can provide effective climate solutions, and demonstrate effective pathways to transform our global systems for people and Planet. Winning initiatives will be honored for their successes in protecting, restoring, and/or sustainably managing nature for nature-positive development outcomes.

Thematic priorities include:

• Nature for Climate Mitigation, Adaptation and Resilience. Actions to protect, conserve, and restore forests, mangroves, peatlands, soils, oceans, and marine ecosystems, as well as actions to build climate-resilient food systems and develop regenerative agriculture and forestry practices to adapt to climate change. These include actions to:

1.Maintain intact ecosystems as they sequester better; forests, mangroves, peatlands, and soils are the greatest natural carbon stores;

2. Uphold Indigenous Peoples’ land tenure, governance, rights, and Traditional knowledge, as they are essential to protect forests and key ecosystems;

3. Achieve forest protection through participatory monitoring and large-scale mapping and spatial planning efforts;

4. Recognize and allow Indigenous land defenders and local youth activists to lead initiatives for climate mitigation, justice, and build community resilience to adapt to climate change;

5. Tackle water security, which is key for life, by protecting and restoring ecosystems critical to water resources at all levels, including continental;

6. Transform our food systems to be more climate-resilient, less carbon-intensive, and adaptable to climate change; and

7. Promote nature-based solutions to reduce the impacts of natural disasters, such as floods and droughts, by restoring and protecting key ecosystems.

• Nature for a Just Transition. Actions to green the economy in a way that is as fair and inclusive as possible for all members of society, including Indigenous Peoples and local communities, while creating decent work opportunities and leaving no one behind. These efforts demonstrate how solutions led at the local-level can contribute to a global value shift, including an economic and financial shift. Harnessing circular economy and reusing materials to reduce the need for resource extraction and minimize pressure on wildlife and threats to biodiversity. Shaping a nature-positive future by rethinking business as usual as an opportunity to sustainably manage and regenerate nature and catalyze low-carbon economies. These include actions to:

1. Show that Indigenous Peoples and local communities can create and lead successful enterprises and bioeconomy models;
2. Prove that effective local green solutions can reduce inequalities, improve livelihoods, enhance responsible production and consumption, and create inclusive, resilient, and low-carbon economies, while also bringing health benefits;
3. Demonstrate that micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and Indigenous-led economies show viable solutions to climate and opportunities for nature regeneration and economic transformation;
4. Initiate new models of climate finance and funding mechanisms can be put in place to fund resilience, adaptation, and climate action; and
5. Respect Indigenous Peoples’ rights as essential to building a new sustainable and thriving economy.

Special consideration will be given to nominees championing youth and women-led climate action.

Local nature-based solutions for sustainable development

The Equator Prize 2025 nomination process offers community-based initiatives the opportunity to feature their work on the Equator Initiative’s Nature-Based Solutions Database, a web portal dedicated to local nature-based solutions for sustainable development. This platform connects communities around the world and shares local solutions that benefit both people and the Planet. Participation in this platform is optional when submitting nominations for the Equator Prize.