The Sociobiodiversity Web – Casa Fund and CAIXA Join Forces in a New US$9.6 Million Partnership

Resources from the Brazilian bank will be allocated to 400 community-based social organizations. The first call is set to take place in 2024.

CAIXA will allocate R$53 million (US$9.6 million) from its Socio-Environmental Fund (FSA) to the execution of projects based on sociobiodiversity businesses that offer solutions focused on nature and/or food security. Named the Sociobiodiversity Web, the initiative will be coordinated by the Casa Socio-Environmental Fund. The program will select 400 social organizations from all regions of Brazil, which will be responsible for the implementation of the projects. The signing of the agreement was announced on Tuesday, August 27. The selection criteria will be announced on October 25.

The maximum budget for each selected project will be R$100,000 (about US$18,000), with an execution period of up to 16 months. More than 80,000 people are expected to benefit, according to the bank’s estimate. This is the largest investment in the history of CAIXA’s FSA and will elevate CAIXA to a new level of support for actions aimed at preserving Brazilian biodiversity, generating jobs and income for traditional and local communities.

For Casa Fund, the partnership is also a historic milestone and celebrates the recognition of more than 19 years of successful strategy connecting resources from major funders to communities that develop local solutions to global human challenges. Regarding this initiative, Cristina Orpheo, Executive Director of Casa Fund, emphasizes, “It is an honor to announce this partnership with CAIXA, a bank so important to the Brazilian people, with such a significant amount of resources from our own country, to directly support communities throughout the national territory, enabling local solutions to be valued and recognized as the solutions we need for a fairer and more sustainable future.”

According to Paulo Rodrigo de Lemos Lopes, Vice President of Sustainability and Digital Citizenship (VISUC), the Sociobiodiversity Webwill give greater reach to CAIXA’s FSA. “The bank’s experience will add to that of Casa Fund, thus enabling up to 400 community-based social organizations to receive financial support and technical assistance to create innovative biodiversity solutions. In a second phase, many of these ideas could be replicated and disseminated throughout the country!” believes Paulo Rodrigo.

Photo: Ahmad Jarrah

As these are projects associated with sociobioeconomy, the Directorate of Sustainability and Digital Citizenship (DESUC) will develop a set of demonstrative solutions to identify the needs for credit and support. Thus, it will contribute to the National Strategy for Bioeconomy and to the Just Transition to a Low Carbon Economy. The Ministries of Finance and the Environment have already expressed interest in following the progress of the work.

A New Economic Matrix

According to Jean Benevides, Director of Sustainability and Digital Citizenship, “CAIXA’s goal is for the investments to benefit community-based associations in the most diverse corners, from all the biomes of Brazil. And that it mobilizes the network of organizations that Casa Fund has already proven capable of activating. Without this, these groups would never access the FSA.”

Photo: Raniere da Conceição Roseira

For Claudia Gibeli, Program Manager at Casa Fund, “The Sociobiodiversity Web program could boost initiatives led and driven by communities that are already developing these actions in their territories, showing the potential of biodiversity linked to the culture of the Brazilian people, projects that can become examples of income generation with respect to local populations and the environment. Projects involvingNature-Based Solutions (NBS) will also be supported, including solutions to the challenges of cities increasingly affected by climate emergencies.”

Casa Socio-Environmental Fund was selected from the Invitation Letter that CAIXA published to learn about projects in the sector. After analyzing the proposed solutions, the decision was made, taking into account the suggested actions and the institution’s experience in promoting environmental conservation and sustainability, as well as respect for socio-environmental rights and social justice. Since 2005, Casa Fund creates connections between people, communities, and organizations through financial support and the strengthening of civil society initiatives that promote socio-environmental justice.

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