Biodiversity

GEF Pushes Innovation, Blended Finance Ahead of the Eighth Assembly

By Stella Paul and Kizito Makoye
As the Global Environment Facility (GEF) steps into the starting blocks of its next financial cycle, the Interim CEO Claude Gascon reflects on what he termed a “moment of transition and delivery".

Filipino Indigenous Leader Takes Ancient Wisdom to the Global Stage

By Kizito Makoye
Every year, when dark clouds gather above the dense forests of the Philippines, 56-year-old Mini Baeyens, of the Aplay Kankanaey tribe, vigilantly watches the sky.

GEF Approves Adaptation Funds Strengthening Resilience in Vulnerable Countries

By IPS Correspondent
Bangladesh, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea-Bissau, Niue, Senegal, Solomon Islands, Sudan, and Togo will receive over USD 67 million in new funding to help strengthen resilience.

As Three COPs Converge, Leaders at GEF Council Call for Unified Global Action

By Stella Paul
On day 2 of the Global Environment Facility’s 71st Council Meeting, which focused on process and procedure, a clear message emerged: global environmental governance cannot afford fragmentation.

Delegates Push for Greater Accountability, Community Inclusion as GEF Crosses Major Environmental Milestones

By Kizito Makoye
While the Global Environment Facility (GEF) said its eighth replenishment cycle (GEF-8) was about to exceed environmental targets for biodiversity protection, marine conservation, ecosystem restoration, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, governments and civil society groups called for stronger safeguards to ensure that local communities, Indigenous Peoples, and smaller implementing agencies are not left behind as funding mechanisms become more complex.

GEF Council Welcomes New Green Pledges, Highlights Old Access Barriers

By Stella Paul
The 71st Council meeting of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) opened today amid a sharp divide, with donor nations urging broader and increased funding commitments, while developing countries called for more equitable and accessible pathways to environmental finance.

India’s LED Story Highlights How Blended Finance Powers Environmental Action

By Stella Paul
Ahead of the Eighth Global Environment Facility (GEF) Assembly in Samarkand, governments and development institutions are grappling with a familiar challenge: How to finance environmental action at the scale required to meet rapidly growing needs.

From Seed to Canopy: How a GEF-Funded Smallholder Project is Restoring the Environment, Building Livelihoods

By Wilson Odhiambo
As 52-year-old Alice Onyango walks through her farm in Siaya county, Kenya, you can tell she is proud of her trees, as some tower over her, providing her with shade, while others seem ready to provide her with fruit for the market.

Brazil’s Indigenous Communities Receive $9M in GEF Funding to Protect Lands, Traditions Under Threat

By Carla Ruas
On Brazil’s northeastern coast, the Indigenous community, Tremembé da Barra do Mundaú, lives on a preserved stretch of land shaped by mangroves, dunes, and deserted beaches. The group of around 160 families is led by women and depends on the 3,500-hectare territory for fishing and subsistence farming.

The Iran War Exposes the Fragility of Our Fuel-Dependent Food System

By Lulseged Desta and Jonathan Mockshell
Sharp surges in energy, fertilizer, and food prices triggered by the ongoing conflict in the Persian Gulf strikingly illustrate the deep interconnections between geopolitical conflict, food insecurity, and the fragility of fossil fuel–dependent food systems.

‘Do More With Less’: GEF CEO Claude Gascon on Speed, Scale and Reform

By Stella Paul
As governments prepare for the Eighth Assembly of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) – scheduled to be held from May 30 to June 6 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan – the stakes are unusually high.

The GEF Leads Global Drive to Tackle Shipping Threat to Oceans

By Kizito Makoye
Under the warm waters off Tanzania’s Mafia Island, marine scientist Asha Mgeni hovers above a coral reef she has studied for years. Small fish dart through the currents. To most divers, the reef appears pristine. But Mgeni notices something unusual.

Cleaning Up the Fields: Across Africa and Asia GEF is Helping Farmers Rewrite Their Pesticide Story

By Benson Kunchezera and Tanka Dhakal
For decades, pesticides have been a quiet pillar of Malawi’s agriculture, guarding crops against pests, improving yields, and sustaining millions of livelihoods. But beneath this success story lay a troubling reality: weak regulation, unsafe handling practices, and growing threats to human health and the environment.

Breaking the Cycle Between Food Production and Environmental Decline

By Esther Ngumbi
A newly published review in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment has revealed disturbing statistics on the growing environmental threats posed by global food production. The global food system, designed to feed and nourish humanity, is now a major contributor to climate change via greenhouse gas emissions, and the largest driver of freshwater depletion, biodiversity loss, and nutrient pollution.

Pacific Islanders Combat Mercury Poisoning of the Environment

By Catherine Wilson
It is an invisible contaminant that has been found in fisheries, an essential part of the food chain for many Pacific Islanders. Mercury, emitted from fossil fuel power generation and other industrial processes around the world, has now penetrated marine ecosystems in the Pacific Islands with detrimental consequences for people’s health and wellbeing.

Seychelles’ Blue Bond: Turning Ocean Vision into Action

By James Alix Michel
As the world prepares for the Global Environment Facility (GEF) meeting in Samarkand next month, Seychelles’ pioneering blue bond offers a compelling lesson in practical ocean finance.

Inside GEF-9: What it is and Why it Could Define the Next Four Years of Environmental Action

By Alison Kentish
The gap between global environmental ambition and real-world progress is widening, with less than five years left to meet key climate and biodiversity targets.

Global Shipping Reforms Cast Shadow Over Tanzania’s Fishing Communities

By Kizito Makoye
At dawn, as the sun rises across the Indian Ocean, Venance Shayo perches on the edge of his boat, hauling in a net. The sea gently ripples under the breeze and the sound of revving engines.

Guardians of the Sea: How GEF Small Grants Program Enables Young Volunteers Take the Lead in Sea Turtle Conservation

By Rafiqul Islam
Every winter thousands of sea turtles come ashore at Cox’s Bazar, in the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh, to lay eggs.

Explainer: How the GEF Funds Global Environmental Action

By Umar Manzoor Shah
The Global Environment Facility, widely known as the GEF, plays a central role in financing environmental protection across the world. It supports developing countries in tackling climate change, biodiversity loss, land degradation, pollution, and threats to ecosystems.

Nations pledge $3.9bn to Global Environment Facility as Race to Meet 2030 Goals Tightens

By Alison Kentish
With just four years left to meet a series of global environmental targets, governments are committing to shore up one of the world’s main environmental funds, the Global Environment Facility (GEF), with a $3.9 billion pledge.
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