GEF Secretariat

Unprecedented transformation is required to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and safeguarding the global commons. The global community called the private sector to step-in with bold action and new frontier investments. such ambitious investments will be significantly unlocked by a combination of private and public sources; blended finance is a key tool to mobilize private capital.

The GEF continually incorporates guidance from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of Parties into its programs and operations, as described annually in its report to the COP. As a complementary publication to the GEF’s annual report, this booklet summarizes all guidance to the GEF dating from the first COP to COP24 and the corresponding GEF responses. This publication provides full documentation of the evolution of GEF activities and policies as informed by guidance from the COP.

The pressures on the global environment are relentless, outpacing efforts to counteract them. And the stakes could not be higher. The fight for the global environment is a fight for nature and people. People everywhere depend on the health and vibrancy of Earth systems. The sustainable development goals of countries cannot be achieved unless the resource base on which they depend is maintained.

Over a decade ago, the Global Environment Facility (GEF), in close partnership with the World Bank, invested in what has become a landmark project for Africa and the world—the Great Green Wall Initiative (GGWI) in the Sahel. Today, with the involvement of a growing number of countries, international agencies, and local communities across the Sahel, life has started coming back to the land, bringing improved food security, jobs, and stability to people’s lives. There is an immense opportunity to build on this success by scaling-up investments for the GGWI.

Land degradation is one of the world’s most pressing environmental problems, happening at an alarming pace, and it will worsen without rapid remedial action. Globally, about 25 percent of the total land area has been degraded. When land is degraded, soil carbon and nitrous oxide are released into the atmosphere, making land degradation one of the most important contributors to climate change. It is estimated that 24 billion tons of fertile soil were being lost per year, largely due to unsustainable agriculture practices.

The GEF provides financial resources for developing countries and countries with economies in transition to implement the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The goal of the GEF’s biodiversity strategy is to maintain globally significant biodiversity in landscapes and seascapes. 

To achieve this goal, GEF-7 investments focus on three main objectives:

All life on Earth depends on clean air and water, biodiversity, and healthy forests, land, oceans and a stable climate. These global commons—the ecosystems, biomes and processes that regulate the stability and resilience of the Earth system—are the very foundation of our global economy and modern society. Today, they are facing an all-too familiar tragedy of over-exploitation and rapid degradation.

The GEF is charged with eliminating the most harmful chemicals, which are covered by the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, the Minamata Convention on Mercury, and the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.