Gurung attended COP29 as program officer for the Center for Indigenous Peoples’ Research and Development, based in Kathmandu, Nepal. Indigenous leaders publicly expressed their frustration with the process’s inadequate consultation of Indigenous communities. The application process for the climate funds that are collected on a global scale is inscrutable for small, Indigenous communities like his. The UN itself, through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (which organizes COP29), describes an alternative approach for Indigenous peoples to access climate funding without the bureaucratic hurdles typically associated with UN climate money. These Indigenous Led Funds (ILFs) provide a mechanism for resources to reach Indigenous communities directly, bypassing complex bureaucratic processes, with culturally appropriate grantmaking.