The Global Environment Facility’s governing body has agreed to provide $261 million across its family of funds for efforts to propel international environmental goals, including projects targeting mercury and hydrofluorocarbons, building more resilient and healthier seascapes and landscapes, and expanding biodiversity conservation efforts in partnership with Indigenous Peoples and local communities.
Council members representing 186 participant countries approved the allocation of $195 million from the GEF Trust Fund, $40 million from the Least Developed Countries Fund, and $26 million from the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund. The support is set to mobilize more than $3 billion in co-financing from other sources.
The latest allocation will advance the goals of the six conventions the GEF is mandated to support – the Agreement on Marine Biodiversity in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction, Convention on Biological Diversity, Minamata Convention on Mercury, Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, UN Convention to Combat Desertification, and UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
GEF CEO and Chairperson Carlos Manuel Rodríguez stressed during the meeting that growing pressures on ecosystems and economies worldwide required concerted and coordinated action in the final push to 2030 environmental goals and targets.
“The very real strains on nature and natural systems – showing up as fires, droughts, floods, contamination, species loss, and illness – have raised the stakes for our work,” Rodríguez said. “The GEF’s ninth replenishment is going to be vital to the achievement of international commitments on biodiversity, climate, and pollution, and the funding allocated this week is keeping us moving in an innovative, impactful direction.”
Three-quarters of the record $5.3 billion GEF-8 replenishment has now been programmed, with one year left in the four-year cycle. The latest Trust Fund work program spans 35 countries and will benefit 16 million people – more than half of them women. It includes support for a new GEF Small Grants Program Global Microfinance Initiative that will offer tailored funding solutions for locally-led work to address strains on nature and community resilience.
Meeting as the LDCF/SCCF Council, representatives approved $40 million in funding from the Least Developed Countries Fund for climate adaptation projects in the Solomon Islands and Uganda, and for a regional program in the Sahel focused on Mali and Chad. Council members also provided additional finance for ecosystem and community resilience in Madagascar, including support for the “Lemur Bond.” The latest approvals bring LDCF investments to over $618 million in the current four-year funding cycle.
The GBFF Council agreed to provide $26 million for projects supporting biodiversity and community well-being in Peru, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and in the Sangha Trinational – a forest connecting Central African Republic, Cameroon, and Congo-Brazzaville. All three projects will mobilize substantial support to Indigenous Peoples and local communities. To date, the GBFF has provided $202 million from its $211 in available funds, financing 40 projects including initiatives underway in Brazil, Gabon, and Mexico.
The Council meetings followed last month’s start of the GEF-9 replenishment process, when donor countries and partners gathered in Paris to discuss priorities and ambitions for the family of funds’ next four-year funding cycle, including a strong focus on efficiency, equity, versatility, and accessibility. The next formal replenishment meeting is scheduled to be held in Botswana from October 8-10, 2025. A final decision about the size and ambition of the GEF-9 funding envelope is expected to be taken in 2026.
Uzbekistan will host the 8th GEF Assembly meeting next year, scheduled for the week commencing May 31. Aziz Abdukhakimov, Uzbekistan’s Minister of Environment, expressed his country’s “full commitment and readiness” to host the once-every-four-year event that brings together representatives from all GEF member countries as well as stakeholders from around the world.
“Hosting the GEF Assembly in Samarkand reflects Uzbekistan’s strong commitment to global sustainability. We see this as a catalyst for innovative partnerships especially in Central Asia – where transboundary challenges require shared solutions,” Abdukhakimov told the Council. “With GEF-9 support, we will deepen regional cooperation to combat biodiversity loss, adapt to climate impacts and accelerate progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals.”
