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  • Global Environment Facility Unveils $68m For Agrifood Systems Solutions

    Global Environment Facility Unveils $68m For Agrifood Systems Solutions

    The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has helped 22 countries unlock $68 million in financing from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to address biodiversity loss, groundwater management, climate change, land degradation, and pollution.

    The projects were approved by the GEF Secretariat and Councils for the GEF Trust Fund, the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF), and the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF) meeting this week in Washington D.C. The projects expect to leverage an additional $273 million in co-financing to advance global goals for biodiversity, social inclusion, land and water management, and reducing use of hazardous chemicals.

    “The approval of this batch of projects comes at the end of a year of environmental summits that highlighted both the need for finance to unlock transformation of global agrifood systems to this critical agenda,” said QU Dongyu, FAO Director-General. “We look forward to supporting countries to meet their biodiversity, climate, land, water, and pollution goals through agrifood systems solutions under the overall guidance of the Four Betters.”

    “These projects will help change the way we produce our food, fuel, and fiber to address global environmental crises. They will enhance coherence between agricultural and environmental sectors and support countries and communities to tackle environmental challenges, food insecurity, and poverty. With this new financing in place, it is now equally important to their success to effectively communicate their goals and impacts,” said Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, CEO and Chairperson, GEF.

    Small Grants Program

    As part of the funding, the Council approved a $19 million allocation for FAO’s first activities as a new implementing agency for the Small Grants Program. The project builds upon 30 years of impact by bringing FAO’s expertise in working with smallholder producers to support civil society organizations and community-based organizations in co-designing and delivering locally led initiatives. The project will develop strategies, provide financial and technical assistance, and foster South-South Cooperation, with a strong focus on innovation, scalability, and social inclusion of women, Indigenous Peoples and youth.

    The project will work with local organizations across 14 countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Chile, Cook Islands, Cuba, Guyana, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya, Marshall Islands, Nicaragua, South Sudan, Tajikistan, Uganda and Venezuela. It aims to restore 20,000 hectares of land, improve practices across 350,000 hectares, and benefit 45,000 people.

    Biodiversity

    Five projects funded by the GBFF will help mainstream biodiversity in agrifood sectors, foster sustainable livelihoods, and empower Indigenous Peoples. These projects aim to improve the management of 500,000 hectares of protected areas, restore 13,000 hectares of landscapes, improve practices on 2.4 million hectares of land and sea, mitigate 1.2 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, and benefit 100,000 people.

    The $1.7 million project in Laos will enhance biodiversity through ecosystem restoration and biodiversity-friendly One Health practices. The $6.4 million project in Papua New Guinea will improve ecosystem connectivity and climate resilience with integrated landscape management. In the Solomon Islands, $2.4 million will support community-led management of key biodiversity areas by Indigenous Peoples, including through spatial management and other effective area-based conservation mechanisms (OECM). In Cuba, the $3 million project will address unsustainable fishing and agriculture in Northeastern Cuba, and the $1.3 million project in Nepal will help conserve endangered freshwater fish through ecosystem-based fisheries management.

    A $8 million project funded by the GEF Trust Fund will enhance biodiversity, ecosystem service, and carbon sequestration in Areas Important for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (AIBDES), including areas inside and outside protected areas in South Sumatra and Central Java, Indonesia. The project aims to conserve and restore 91,000 hectares of natural ecosystems that house species such as the Javan Leopard and Sumatran Elephant. The project will also improve practices on 565,000 hectares of land, mitigate 6.2 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, and benefit 40,000 people.

    Land and Water

    A regional project in Kenya and Tanzania will enhance water security and improve climate-resilience in the Mount Kilimanjaro region by improving the management of the shared Kilimanjaro Transboundary Aquifer System. With $7.8 million in GEF financing, this initiative will conserve 40,000 hectares of cloud forest, ensure sustainable groundwater use, and benefit 100,000 people.

    A $5.1 million project will help achieve Liberia’s Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) commitments by enhancing soil health and reducing land degradation through sustainable management practices in targeted rice landscapes. The project will restore 25,000 hectares of land, implement sustainable land management practices across 100,000 hectares, mitigate over one million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, and benefit over 60,000 people.

    Chemicals

    Under the Integrated Collaborative Approaches for Sustainable Tourism Program (iCOAST), FAO will support Vanuatu in promoting sustainable practices within the tourism industry through bioeconomy and circular approaches. The project will channel $4 million to update the national tourism strategy, restore over 32,000 hectares of degraded ecosystems, improve practices on 62,000 hectares of land and sea, and benefit over 246,000 people.

    Under the Financing Agrochemical Reduction and Management Plus Program (FARM+), FAO will support Gambia to reduce harmful agrochemical use and transition to climate-resilient, agroecological practices in rice, millet and maize production. With $9.6 million from the GEF Trust Fund and the LDCF, the project aims to restore 10,000 hectares of land, improve practices on 120,000 hectares of land and sea, mitigate over 15,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, and benefit 240,000 people.

    New heights in 2024

    The program closes a year of record growth in the FAO-GEF partnership. In addition to $440 million approved across the February, June and December work programs in 2024, 13 FAO projects worth $14 million in GEF resources and $24 million in co-financing are providing global and national support in meeting reporting commitments for climate change and LDN.

    FAO-GEF Partnership

    As a partner agency for the GEF, FAO supports countries worldwide in addressing the complex challenges at the nexus between the agrifood systems and the environment. Since 2006, FAO has supported 141 countries in accessing $1.9 billion for projects that respond to local priorities, deliver global environmental benefits, and advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

  • New $282m GEF Program Targets Climate And Environment Action Through Agriculture And Food Systems

    New $282m GEF Program Targets Climate And Environment Action Through Agriculture And Food Systems

    The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) launched a new program, aimed at strengthening efforts to transform global agrifood systems – from farm to table – so that they are sustainable, nature positive, resilient, inclusive, and pollution-free.

    Funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the Food Systems Integrated Program (FSIP) was launched on Agrifood System Day at the 16th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP16) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

    The program will channel $282 million in GEF financing and an estimated $1.8 billion of co-financing towards global environmental benefits for biodiversity, land, and climate change, along with socioeconomic benefits of improved food security, nutrition, and livelihoods.

    The program targets agrifood systems of four sectors – crops (maize, rice, and wheat), commodities (cocoa, palm oil and soy), livestock, and aquaculture – across 32 countries: Angola, Argentina, Benin, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Chad, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Ghana, Grenada, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Namibia, Nauru, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Türkiye, and Uganda.

    Countries and communities will develop and strengthen policies, value chains, practices, and investment plans for key agrifood sectors through the program. The program aims to mitigate methane emissions in the livestock and rice sectors, as well as deforestation in livestock and palm oil sectors. The program will promote aquaculture as an alternative source of protein and income and integrated landscape management as an alternative to unsustainable land use in producing wheat and maize. In addition, it will also support sustainable practices for key commodities to ensure long-term environmental and economic benefits.

    The program comes amid growing international attention to the key role of food and agriculture systems at the recent UN environmental Conferences of the Parties (COPs) for three different conventions. These include the launch of the Agri-NBSAPs Initiative at the CBD COP16 for biodiversity, and the Harmoniya Initiative launched at the UNFCCC COP29 for climate. All three COPs have prominently featured discussions on financing – agrifood systems accounted for less than 5% of total global climate finance (2019/2020) and 23 percent of the total climate-related development finance (2022), a decline from 37% in the previous decade.

    The Food Systems Integrated Program builds upon nearly a decade of GEF investments in global programs on food systems, including The Good Growth Partnership, Resilient Food Systems and the Food Systems, Land Use, and Restoration Impact Program. Approved and designed after the UN Food Systems Summit, the FSIP program will support countries to meet commitments for the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, Paris Agreement on climate change, and Land Degradation Neutrality.

    The Global Coordination Project will support the design and launch of 32 country projects over the next 12 months. Global coordination hubs on policy and governance, private sector and investment, landscape-level – farmland, agroforestry sites, and other non-protected areas – innovation, and knowledge management will build communities of practice and enhance coordination throughout the duration of the program to generate greater impact than the sum of individual country projects.

  • GEF Unveils $20m Investment In Climate Adaption Innovators

    GEF Unveils $20m Investment In Climate Adaption Innovators

    As funding the climate challenge takes center stage at COP29 in Azerbaijan, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) has announced the latest winners of its Challenge Program for Adaptation Innovation, with $20 million in grants awarded to projects that will reimagine climate adaptation finance.

    From initiatives to enhance the adaptive capacity of women entrepreneurs in the agricultural sector through financial inclusion, to scaling up traditional fire management techniques for resilient ecosystems services through carbon credit generation, crowdfunding climate-smart loans, developing a virtual green bank for adaptation, and kickstarting international markets for resilience-building bonds, the 13 award-winning projects all aim to test and scale up vital financial innovations.

    The GEF-backed Challenge Program for Adaptation Innovation aims to pilot and de-risk new approaches to adaptation funding, leveraging donor funding to create the conditions for comprehensive private sector engagement in overcoming the shared challenges of climate change.

    “Adapting to climate change is one of the defining challenges of our time, but it also offers an undeniable opportunity. By seeding these new approaches to climate adaptation funding, we are enabling the development of innovative technologies, while reducing risk and providing the conditions needed to open financial flows and enable new investors and sectors to take action,” Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, GEF CEO and Chairperson said.

    Selected from well over 100 proponents from around the globe, the latest tranche of winners will bring GEF investments in the Challenge Program to over $40 million across 32 projects in implementation or development, with an additional $40 million to be invested in the period to 2026.

    The teams behind each of the winning proposals announced at COP29 will be invited to further develop and implement their concept in collaboration with one of GEF’s 18 agency partners.

    Financing for the Challenge Program comes from the GEF’s two dedicated climate adaptation funds – the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) and the Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF). The LDCF is the only multilateral climate fund designed to address the unique climate adaptation needs of Least Developed Countries; while the SCCF is focused on targeting the adaptation priorities of Small Island Developing States as well as catalyzing innovation, technology transfer, and private sector engagement. Together the two funds have provided approximately $2.5 billion in grant financing and mobilized an additional $14.3 billion from other sources, which is expected to reduce the vulnerability of 84 million people in 118 countries since their inception in 2001.

  • UNDP, GEF’s New $135m Initiative To Support Small Island Developing States Against Environmental Degradation

    UNDP, GEF’s New $135m Initiative To Support Small Island Developing States Against Environmental Degradation

    BY ASELEBE SADIK ADEWUYI

    The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Global Environment Facility launched a new $135 million Blue and Green Islands Integrated Program (BGI-IP) today during the Fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS4).

    This initiative aims to emphasize the crucial role of nature and expand nature-based solutions to combat environmental degradation in three key sectors: urban development, food production, and tourism. Targeting 15 SIDS, the program seeks to foster nature-positive changes. Managed by the UNDP and funded by the GEF and partners, this effort represents a new wave of support for SIDS as they embark on the Decade of Action from 2024 to 2034.

    The BGI-IP will support 15 SIDS, selected through a competitive “Expressions of Interest” process, representing all SIDS sub-regions: the Caribbean; the Pacific; and the Atlantic, Indian Ocean, and South China Sea (AIS). The BGI-IP will provide communities with the resources to expand successful initiatives that solve challenges faced by local people. The program will support sustainable agriculture and fisheries, promote nature-friendly tourism, reduce pollution, and improve resilience to extreme weather events. In partnership with UNEP, FAO, the World Bank, WWF-US, IUCN, and UNCCD, among others, the initiative will provide a crucial and substantial means of support for sustainable economic diversification and job creation.

    “SIDS are on the frontlines of climate change and nature loss as they face harsh realities of sea level rise, more unpredictable weather patterns, and degraded ecosystems, yet their unique situation also means that they are also driving forward a remarkable range of innovative and interconnected solutions,” said Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator. “With the invaluable support of the Global Environment Facility, the Blue and Green Islands Program will serve to scale up nature-based solutions in the food, tourism, and urban sectors that help shift key sectors from nature-negative to nature-positive — improving the daily lives of people on small islands and helping to revive the health of our natural world.”

    “Nowhere is the connection between a strong economy, a healthy environment, and a healthy people, clearer than in the SIDS. Given their unique vulnerabilities to loss of biodiversity, plastic and waste pollution, and climate and socio-economic changes and shocks, SIDS are the best incubators of innovation for sustainable development with many initiatives that can have substantial impact on the planet and the people,” said Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, GEF CEO and Chairperson. “The Blue and Green Islands Integrated Program is designed to respond to the need for usable information on nature and ecosystems among decision-makers and securing resources for impactful initiatives, while building connections across vast oceans to create greater results.”

    Selected through the “Expressions of Interest” process, the 15 SIDS, out of 39 in total, are: Belize, Cabo Verde, Comoros, Cuba, Maldives, Mauritius, Micronesia, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Saint Lucia, Samoa, Seychelles, Timor Leste, Trinidad & Tobago, and Vanuatu.

    The BGI-IP is one of several interconnected programs designed to move the needle toward system transformations in line with national priorities. The GEF invests in Integrated Programs to tackle drivers of environmental degradation and address multiple systemic threats at once, such as those driven by cities, food systems, plastics, and forest land use. GEF support for a dedicated coordination platform offers technical support and national-level capacity for integrated solutions and leverages external funding opportunities for impactful outcomes across multiple scales.

    Aligned with the Antigua & Barbuda Agenda for SIDS (ABAS) and the next Decade of Action, the BGI-IP will target key barriers and shift levers to transform the way ecosystems are protected and sustainably managed in SIDS, generating vital global environmental benefits over time.


    UNDP is the leading United Nations organization fighting to end the injustice of poverty, inequality and climate change. Working with our broad network of experts and partners in 170 countries, we help nations to build integrated, lasting solutions for people and the planet. Learn more at undp.org or follow at @UNDP.


    The Global Environment Facility (GEF) is a multilateral family of funds dedicated to confronting biodiversity loss, climate change, and pollution, and supporting land and ocean health. Its financing enables developing countries to address complex challenges and work towards international environmental goals. The partnership includes 186 member governments as well as civil society, Indigenous Peoples, women, and youth, with a focus on integration and inclusivity. Over the past three decades, the GEF has provided nearly $25 billion in financing and mobilized another $138 billion for country-driven priority projects. The family of funds includes the Global Environment Facility Trust Fund, Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF), Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF), Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF), Nagoya Protocol Implementation Fund (NPIF), and Capacity-building Initiative for Transparency Trust Fund (CBIT).

  • Southern Africa: Young Leaders Share Hopes, Lessons At GEF workshop

    Vania Afonso Biquiza spent nine hours traveling by boat and car to attend the GEF’s latest Expanded Constituency Workshop in Maputo, where she and other young leaders shared their hopes and concerns about environmental management in Southern Africa.

    The 19-year-old law student journeyed 215 miles from Mozambique’s Zavala district to the capital to share her community’s experiences protecting the environment while improving living conditions.

    A girl, Vania Afonso Biquiza, stands for a portrait photo
    Vania Afonso Biquiza

    For the past decade, Vania Biquiza has been involved with her mother in the Makomane Association for Community Development (Makomane-ADM), which works to support sustainable growth in her coastal community bathed by the Indian Ocean. The association has received support from the GEF for a project that has successfully protected marine turtles and underwater life while generating local income. That project received $20,700 in funding from the GEF Small Grants Programme and was implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) alongside local partners.

    This initiative has reduced illegal fishing of sea turtles and sharks, improved fishing techniques, and trained 150 association members and about 1,500 community members in sustainable fishing practices, including tilapia production in floating cages in lagoons. An environmental committee was established to patrol the coast, and because of the protected environment, there was an increase in the supply of mussels. The committee, composed of local fishers and community police, was later reinforced by municipal police helping patrol the Makomane coast.

    The Makomane ADM Association is now working on another GEF-funded project with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) to improve farmer productivity with solar energy for conservation and biogas for food processing, an important shift in the area whose economy is highly based on natural resources including agriculture, fishing, and the cutting and selling of reeds.

    “We are in a coastal area far from electricity, so that renewable energy will help the community. Currently, we only have a few solar energy panels. With the new project, we will also avoid cutting trees because we won’t need to use firewood anymore,” Vania Biquiza said.

    She shared her community’s successes as one of six young people who joined representatives from 10 Southern African countries in the GEF-hosted gathering, which focused on ways to access and deploy funding from the Global Environment Facility in support of international environmental goals. The Expanded Constituency Workshop brought together representatives from Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

    Other youth representatives from Lesotho, Malawi, and Zimbabwe shared their experiences working with environmental organizations such as YOUNGO – the official children and youth constituency of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) –and the Zimbabwe Youth Biodiversity Network.

    The youth representatives suggested having more capacity-building initiatives focused on young people. They also want to have more voice in the discussions about projects. “Currently, there is no youth participation in the National Committee for the Small Grants Programme in Malawi,” said Dorothy Kazombo Mwale from YOUNGO Malawi. “We could set a target for civil society and youth-led initiatives,” said Knowledge Vingi from the Zimbabwe Youth Biodiversity Network.

    Portrait photo of Principal Secretary for the Ministry of Environment of Lesotho, Mabataung Khalane
    Mabataung Khalane

    Several government officials present acknowledged the challenges and committed to change. “We have a Coordinating Committee to discuss all the issues pertaining to GEF projects with stakeholders and civil society representatives. Unfortunately, we have not thought of including the youth. Still, from now on, we are going to make sure the youth will become part of the committee,” said the Principal Secretary for the Ministry of Environment of Lesotho, Mabataung Khalane.

    “The GEF is launching a new approach to work more closely with civil society organizations. We were delighted to have youth representatives join us in a regional workshop for the first time to share their important perspectives as we work together to generate global environmental benefits,” said Paola Ridolfi, Interim Director for Policy, Partnership, and Operations of the GEF.

    The Maputo event was the GEF’s first in-person Expanded Constituency Workshop since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. These workshops have a long history of bolstering the capacity of GEF focal points worldwide, and are now also working closely with civil society organizations in support of shared goals. The Mozambique event agenda included discussions about environmental priorities related to biodiversity loss, climate change, pollution, and land health, among other topics.

    The GEF will provide $177 million from its record 2022-2026 funding period for environmental projects and programs in Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The GEF’s total portfolio for the 10 countries includes 117 active projects, with 75 percent supporting biodiversity and climate change. The active projects account for $595 million of GEF’s commitments and more than $3 billion in co-financing.

    The Expanded Constituency Workshop was followed by training organized by the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF), which provides targeted support for climate change adaptation. That session brought together representatives from Angola, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia. As part of the workshop, participants worked on strategies to develop proposals and programs that can address local and regional climate resilience needs, including potential engagement with the private sector.

    The LDCF can provide $20 million per eligible country in 2022-2026, double the resources available in the prior four years.

    Participants in both workshops also visited Maputo National Park, where the GEF has provided $6.3 million for the first phase of the Conservation Areas for Biodiversity and Development project (Mozbio), a project implemented by the World Bank and executed by the National Sustainable Development Fund under the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

    Source: The GEF