News

Washington D.C., 2 June 2025 – The Global Environment Facility (GEF) has announced USD27.2m for three new UN Environment Programme (UNEP) led projects during its 69th Council meeting. The projects aim to deliver practical solutions to pressing environmental challenges, including tackling pollution and enhancing climate transparency.  

Colombo, Sri Lanka, 2 June 2025 — In an effort to strengthen global efforts on mercury monitoring and control, a weeklong series of technical trainings and coordination events is underway from 2–6 June 2025 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The initiative brings together customs and enforcement authorities, government representatives, health and environment experts, and international partners to support the effective implementation of the Minamata Convention on Mercury.

ULAANBAATAR, MONGOLIA – After six years, the planetGOLD Mongolia project officially concludes, marking a significant milestone in eliminating mercury use in Mongolia’s artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) sector.

Geneva, 12 May 2025 – Over 50 representatives from Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are gathering at the Palais des Nations in Geneva for the first in-person ISLANDS Forum to strengthen sound management of chemicals and waste in these uniquely vulnerable nations.

Vienna, 7 May 2025 – Hosted by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in its Austrian premises, the Global Environment Facility (GEF)’s third Agencies Communications Retreat brought together over 30 participants representing UN agencies, multilateral development banks and non-governmental organizations in Vienna from 5 to 6 May 2025.

The GEF is a family of funds for the environment. It is also a financial mechanism for 6 multilateral conventions that are implemented through technical cooperation activities by UNIDO and 17 other agencies...

Dar es Salaam, 26 February 2025 – The governments of Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania and Zambia have launched a five-year project to assess and address transboundary threats to the biodiversity of the Lake Tanganyika Basin. The initiative will protect core conservation zones in three identified protected areas and promote sustainable natural resource use in protected areas and their buffer zones.  

December 20, 2024 - The Global Environment Facility (GEF) has announced a commitment of $99.8 million in funding for UNEP initiatives aimed at delivering substantial environmental benefits. This funding, announced during the 68th GEF Council, will support projects focused on addressing the crisis of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss and pollution and waste. 

Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe join forces in a new project to reduce the releases of Persistent Organic Pollutants from plastics. Chemicals with hazardous properties are added to plastic products and released throughout their lifecycle, negatively impacting human health and the environment, and hampering efforts towards a circular economy transition. The US$ 90-million initiative will support an approa

Cambodia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, India, Mongolia, Pakistan, Peru, and Trinidad and Tobago have united to drive the transformation and eliminate the environmental impact of fashion and construction. Fashion and construction are among the top three sectors contributing to pollution, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, land degradation, water pollution and biodiversity loss.  $340 million initiative will transform resource-intensi

Monterrey, 20 November 2024.- Mexico's Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) is joining forces with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and other partners in a new project to eliminate the use of mercury in the chloralkali sector to protect human health and the environment while promoting sustainable industrial practices.

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.

Findings from the new Global Nitrous Oxide Assessment (N₂O) warns that without urgent action on rising N₂O emissions, there is no viable pathway to limiting global warming to 1.5°C, and provides tangible tools to reduce emissions by more than 40% from current levels. The assessment shows that N₂O is currently the most significant oz

New contributions from Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, New Zealand, Norway, the United Kingdom, and Québec announced at COP16.

The support from Québec is the GBFF’s first pledge from a sub-national government.

The GBFF now has 12 contributors including Canada, Japan, Luxembourg, and Spain.

The Global Environment Facility has approved the first funding related to the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement, an important milestone for ensuring the health and resilience of more than two-thirds of the world’s ocean ecosystems. 

Global Environment Facility member countries approved $736.4 million in funding, including new support for the Great Green Wall, a landmark initiative focused on increasing climate resilience and improving land health across Africa’s Sahel region.

The diverse package of financing includes the new Global Biodiversity Framework Fund’s first three approved projects, less than a year after the fund’s launch, and the most support ever provided by the Least Developed Countries Fund for climate change adaptation. 

 

The Global Environment Facility’s governing body will hold back-to-back Council meetings for the GEF Trust Fund, the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF) and the Least Developed Countries Fund/Special Climate Change Fund (LDCF/SCCF) from June 17 to 20 in Washington, DC.

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 prod

Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau and São Tomé and Príncipe have joined forces to reduce the burden of mercury and persistent organic pollutants

Mercury and persistent organic pollutants pose risks to human health and the environment

$48-million initiative will prevent the build-up and improve the management and disposal of hazardous waste

Albania, Burkina Faso, India, Montenegro and Uganda have joined forces to halt mercury pollution from the healthcare sector Mercury harms human health and the environment $134-million initiative will support a holistic approach to improve the management of mercury waste and the adoption of alternatives

Geneva, 14 May 2024 – The Governments of Albania, Burkina Faso, India, Montenegro and Ugand

Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Grenada, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines unite to strengthen blue economy and coastal and ocean management through innovative financing mechanisms. 

Coastal and marine resources – coral reefs, mangroves, seagrass beds, tidal marshes, and beaches – are critical economic drivers in the Caribbean. 

The USD 6 million initiative will leverage existing regional sustainable finance architecture in the Caribbean to support and showcase the value of blue economy and blue businesses.  

The initiative brings together lake and phosphorus management communities, marking a significant step toward establishing a global framework for sustainable phosphorus management. The $2 million initiative will increase clarity on global phosphorus emissions, drivers and impacts through science, data and evidence. Excess nutrient loading into lakes endangers human health, drinking water supplies, and drives biodiversity loss.

Ecuador, India, Kenya, Laos, Philippines, Uruguay, and Vietnam have joined forces to reduce the environmental impact of the agricultural sector Highly hazardous pesticides and plastic waste from agriculture release toxic persistent organic pollutants into the environment, also harming human health $379 million initiative will realign financial incentives to prevent the use of harmful inputs in food production

A newly launched Climate Transparency Platform offers a one-stop shop to track countries’ latest reported progress towards global carbon reduction goals, providing a key source of information for governments, civil society, and academia on the road to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change’s COP28 summit in Dubai.

During the GEF Assembly, Canada and the United Kingdom announced contributions to the new Global Biodiversity Framework Fund, created to ramp up investment in nature restoration and renewal.

VANCOUVER – In good news for nature in a challenging moment, representatives of 185 countries agreed at the Global Environment Facility’s Seventh Assembly in Canada to launch an innovative new fund for biodiversity that will attract funding from governments, philanthropy, and the private sector.