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Global Environment Facility members debut new GBFF Council, as they agree to new biodiversity, climate, nature, and pollution funding
The Global Environment Facility's (GEF) 186 member governments have agreed to $1.1bn in fresh funding for international action on biodiversity, climate change, nature renewal, and pollution control.
Meeting for the first time as the Council of the new Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF) in Washington DC last week, the group approved $918m for 45 projects through the GEF Trust Fund, including four blended finance initiatives involving the private sector.
A further $203m was signed off for 21 adaptation projects backed by the Least Developed Countries Fund and Special Climate Change Fund - part of a collective that includes the GEF Trust Fund, Nagoya Protocol Implementation Fund, and Capacity Building Initiative for Transparency Trust Fund.
The latest addition to this growing GEF-housed portfolio, the GBFF is expected to start funding projects related to nature loss and restoration by the end of 2024.
The Fund was launched at the Seventh GEF Assembly in August 2023, less than a year after the UN Convention on Biological Diversity requested that the GEF be created to support efforts to meet the goal to halt and reverse nature loss that sits at the heart of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
Country representatives meeting as the GBFF Council reached agreement on how donor resources will be allocated, and how projects will be designed and approved while Spain announced a new contribution, adding to those already confirmed by Canada, the UK, Germany, and Japan.
A paper approved by the Council also outlined initial guidelines for GEF support related to the High Seas Treaty, which will complement and build on biodiversity investments in international waters.
Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, GEF CEO and chairperson, said the organisation was conscious of its "unique role" in mobilising environmental finance.
"The investments and plans approved by our member governments this week reflect this determined commitment," he said. "The support the GEF is deploying stands out not only for its size and accelerating speed, but also its reach. We are breaking down silos to move the needle on the environmental challenges both donor and recipient countries are facing."
The group said 20 per cent of GBFF resources will aim to support indigenous-led initiatives to protect and conserve biodiversity.
Speaking at the Washington, DC meeting, acting executive secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity David Cooper stressed the importance of indigenous peoples, local communities, women, and youth groups being involved in the fund. "Your contributions to this process are going to be very important," he said.
Moreover, Dawda Badgie, executive director of the National Environment Agency of The Gambia and co-chair of the GEF Council, welcomed the agreement among countries to jointly address environmental issues that directly affect human well-being everywhere.
"These decisions can change peoples' lives for years to come," Badgie said. "We have to act collectively about the challenges we are facing. They do not spare anybody."
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