The Global Environment Facility (GEF) has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting countries in achieving global biodiversity targets, pledging increased funding and reforms to enhance environmental conservation efforts.
The CEO and Chairperson of GEF, Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, in a statement on the outcomes of COP16.2, emphasized the organization’s role in providing resources to over 140 countries through the GEF Trust Fund and the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF).
Rodríguez noted that establishing the GBFF was a timely and strategic response to global biodiversity financing needs. He disclosed that by December 2024, two years after COP15, the fund had allocated over $200 million for 40 projects in 41 countries.
He further stated that from June 2022 to December 2024, the GEF family of funds approved $3.07 billion for biodiversity projects under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. These projects, he said, are expected to leverage more than $22 billion in co-financing, including $1.9 billion from the private sector.
To strengthen its impact, Rodríguez revealed that the GEF Secretariat has undergone reforms in its policies and processes to better support countries’ capacities and respond effectively to their needs.
Looking ahead, he assured that GEF, through its upcoming GEF-9 replenishment and the GBFF, will mobilize and efficiently allocate additional resources to accelerate progress toward global biodiversity targets.
The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, adopted at COP15, aims to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030. Financial mechanisms like the GEF play a crucial role in its implementation.
