The Global Environment Facility (GEF) Council has approved $65 million for the first work programme of its eighth funding cycle. Almost half of this funding is for biodiversity projects, including more than $18 million to support the development of biodiversity financing plans in 26 countries.
The Global Environment Facility (GEF) Council approved $65 million for the first work programme of its eighth funding cycle. The Council report states that more than half of this funding will go to biodiversity projects, including more than $18 million to support the development of biodiversity financing plans in 26 countries, particularly in Africa.
The Biodiversity Finance Plan Development Support Umbrella Programme will enable countries to mobilise large-scale resources to implement the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework by supporting the development of national biodiversity finance plans, including baseline diagnostics, capacity and institutional arrangements. The programme includes support to develop baseline analyses and strengthen institutions in countries that have not yet benefited from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Biodiversity Finance Initiative.
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This is the second and final annual meeting of the GEF Council. It was held on the eve of the 15th United Nations Conference on Biodiversity (COP15), which takes place from 6 to 17 December 2022 in Montreal, Canada. Delegates from different countries must agree on the adoption of a text, which some hope will be as ambitious as the Paris Climate Agreement. The aim is to protect at least 30% of the land and oceans by 2030, to reduce plastic and agricultural pollution and to ensure that the adopted objectives are properly implemented.
According to data from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), about 1 million species are threatened with extinction in Africa, and many more will be in the coming decades. Unless action is taken to reduce the intensity of the drivers of biodiversity loss.
Boris Ngounou
