The Story of the Manifesto

Over the past three months, a complex and inclusive process has unfolded. This story is told through the voices of the geopolitical Global South and is grounded in the same foundation that sustains The Global South House  itself: collective power. We are talking about “The Global South at the Center: A manifesto for a new architecture of financing for climate, nature, and people” launched on October 10.

The collective process of building the Manifesto was organized into seven main stages, carried out throughout the Road to COP30 —a series of preparatory and capacity-building meetings leading up to the first edition of The Global South House during COP30. With the participation of members from the networks that make up South House—socio-environmental funds from the Alianza Socioambiental Fondos del Sur, Rede Comuá, Rede de Fundos Comunitários da Amazônia, and the #ShiftThePower movement—a shared and powerful narrative was written collectively.

This process demonstrates that philanthropy from and for the Global South does not wait for permission to transform this field. It is an ongoing transformation. What South House does now is invite strategic actors and partners to join in building this new and necessary future.

The first three meetings of the Road to COP30 had a formative character. The network learned from specialists in climate finance, negotiations, and others specialists, about the current state of this ecosystem and identified ways in which socio-environmental funds from the Global South could contribute to making it more community-centered, diverse, and legitimate.

The last three meetings were dedicated to the collective construction of the Manifesto, facilitated by Yasmin Morais, Program Officer at Rede Comuá, internationalist, and MA in Power, Participation, and Social Change from the Institute of Development Studies; and Paulina Cho, climate strategist and MA in Global Affairs from Tsinghua University.

As the process advanced, a movement of strengthening and deepening emerged—both in the relationships among members from the networks that constitute this initiative, and in the practices and capacities to foster conceptual and narrative alignment. This was essential for the participating networks to get to know each other better, connect, and develop a stronger sense of belonging to the collective project in progress.

As Morais puts it: “What once seemed distant and difficult became tangible when we came together.” In her view, this is the key to transforming the global architecture of financing for climate, nature, and people into a system that is less market-driven and more diverse and collaborative.

“Choosing collaborative processes means valuing the different forms of knowledge, experiences, and perspectives we hold. It means creating conditions for voices historically excluded from decision-making spaces to bring their critiques and aspirations to the table,” says Yasmin.

“It was remarkable to see how people embraced the process despite all the challenges of language, time zones, and context,” says Cho. “The collective writing process forced us to practice what we preach: active listening, power-sharing, and the understanding that no single voice holds the whole truth,” she adds.

The facilitators share that the process was a constant exercise in translation—not only between languages but between realities. It was also a reminder that, despite persistent inequalities and disparities, socio-environmental funds from the Global South are ready to change the game and build a new approach—and a new architecture—of financing for climate, nature, and people.

The Manifesto is available. Read it now and share it with your colleagues.