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

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.

UN Weather Agency Warns of Escalating Climate Extremes Across Caribbean and Latin America

Faster-than-average sea level rise, intensifying hurricanes, extreme heat and worsening swings between drought and flooding are increasing pressure on Latin America and the Caribbean, according to a new report released Monday, May 18 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

Empowering Youth Is the Fastest Path to Transforming Least Developed Countries

The future of the world’s least developed countries (LDCs) will be shaped by a critical choice they make today- strategic investment in their youth. Rich in human potential, the young people in LDCs embody ingenuity, resilience and ambition. With the right opportunities, they can transform challenges into opportunities and put their countries strongly on track to sustainable development.

Pacific Ocean Under Pressure — Now a Region Finally Armed With Evidence

For generations, Pacific people have understood the ocean not as a resource but as identity, sustenance, and survival. Today, that relationship is being tested in ways science is only just beginning to fully capture.

Pacific Islanders Combat Mercury Poisoning of the Environment

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

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

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.

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

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

Bridging Knowledge Systems: How Pacific Communities Are Reclaiming Climate Solutions Through Nature

Climate change is no longer a distant threat. Across the Pacific, it is a daily reality reshaping coastlines, livelihoods, and the delicate balance between people and the environment. But in a region long defined by resilience, solutions are not being invented from scratch. They are being remembered, strengthened, and scaled.

Explainer: How the GEF Funds Global Environmental Action

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.

Informal Settlements Grapple With Climate Extremes in Pacific Islands

A rising cycle of poverty and extreme weather threatens many towns and cities, especially those situated on coastlines, in the Pacific Islands. Urban centres in the Pacific have grown at an unprecedented rate this century, rapidly straining national resources for urban planning. But governments are now making progress on improving people’s lives in the informal settlements that dominate the urban sprawl in some of the region’s largest cities.

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

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.

Caribbean Leaders and Civil Society Prepare for Global Push on Fossil Fuel Phase-Out

As the world edges closer to breaching key climate thresholds, Caribbean policymakers, scientists and civil society leaders gathered in Saint Lucia this month to coordinate the region’s position ahead of a landmark global meeting on transitioning away from fossil fuels.

Caribbean Civil Society Gathered in Jamaica to Strengthen Resilience Amid Global Shifts

Civil society groups from across the Caribbean met in Jamaica in February 2026 for a landmark regional conference, with development leaders urging stronger governance, digital readiness and deeper partnerships to adapt to a shifting and increasingly complex geopolitical landscape.

Trachoma: What It Takes to Eliminate a Disease in the Pacific Islands

Two Pacific Island nations have been applauded for their successes in the global health campaign to eliminate the infectious eye disease, Trachoma.

International Funding for 30×30 Biodiversity Target Falls Billions Short of Global Goals

A new study and interactive dashboard released today in Nairobi at the seventh session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) finds that current international financial flows remain billions of dollars short of what is required to achieve the global biodiversity target of protecting and conserving at least 30 percent of the world’s land and ocean by 2030 (30x30).

COP30 Fails the Caribbean’s Most Vulnerable, Leaders Say: ‘Our Lived Reality Isn’t Reflected’

Caribbean small island states say this year’s UN climate conference has once again failed to deliver the urgency and ambition needed to tackle escalating climate devastation across the region. From slow-moving climate finance to frustrating political gridlock, leaders say COP30 did not reflect the realities that small islands are living through every day.

Why Climate Finance Is Vital for the Implementation of NDCs in Africa

Funding cuts from the United States, the United Kingdom and Europe have left a funding gap in climate change programmes across Africa.

Snatching Victory From Jaws of Defeat Through Belém’s Mutirão Approach

Mutirão first entered the global climate discourse in Ambassador André Corrêa do Lago’s first letter to the world, which was sent in March 2025 as part of his COP30 presidency.

The AI Revolution – A Way Forward

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly changing our world. It has helped a few companies in developed countries set record-breaking profits. Last month, Nvidia, a leading US AI company, hit a market value of USD 5 trillion.