Throughout South America, indigenous peoples are fighting to prevent irreparable harm to their communities and the environment they depend upon for physical and cultural survival. In Brazil, development projects such as energy, infrastructure, and other mega-projects funded by the Brazilian National Development Bank (BNDES), pose a serious threat to indigenous peoples and the Amazon rainforest. Though BNDES is a Brazilian bank, its investments in dams and roads reach across the region. BNDES is a powerful, state-owned bank, with its portfolio in South America now far surpassing that of even the World Bank. However, BNDES greatly lags behind other major development banks in regards to sustainability and accountability. The bank lacks a set of comprehensive social and environmental safeguard policies and has no policy on indigenous peoples.

• The Center helps prepare indigenous leaders in Brazil for future policy work (September 2017)
• BNDES Socioenvironmental Policy