Africa Leads in GEF Funding for Environmental Projects

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) helps fund environmental projects all over the world. Recently, it said that African countries are the biggest recipients of its funding for sustainable projects.

Ulrich Apel, a Senior Environmental Specialist at GEF, shared this news on Monday while answering questions about how countries can access environmental funds.

Apel mentioned that Africa has received around 30 percent of GEF funding. This is more than Asia, which got 18 percent, and Latin America and the Caribbean, which got 15 percent.

"First of all, we have programmes that cover all the available funding. We programme all of our available funding, and in fact, the African region is the largest beneficiary of our funding, having received about 30 percent of the funds, followed by Asia with 18 percent, and Latin America and the Caribbean with 15 percent," he said.

He answered PREMIUM TIMES’ questions about how countries like Nigeria can access GEF funding more easily.

Apel explained that African nations are a focus for GEF funding because they face issues like land degradation, desertification, and drought. These issues are being discussed at the ongoing United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) COP17.

"So, I don’t think the problem is necessarily the accessibility of funds, because we programme all the funding that we have available," Apel added.

Finance a Key Topic at COP17

August 24 was Finance Day at UNCCD COP17 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Discussions in various meeting rooms focused on getting both public and private investments for land restoration and drought resilience.

The 17th Conference of the Parties to the UNCCD is highlighting rangelands. These include drylands, grasslands, shrublands, wetlands, and deserts, which take up more than half of the Earth’s land.

Despite their significance for pastoralists, biodiversity, food systems, and carbon storage, about half of the world’s rangelands are thought to be degraded.

In light of this, governments, development banks, investment funds, and businesses at COP17 announced $1.3 billion in new and planned financing for land restoration and drought resilience across 23 countries on five continents.

New GEF Drought Programme

The GEF also revealed a new Drylands and Drought Management Integrated Program. This program aims to help countries proactively manage drought and build resilience in drylands. It will also address risks to ecosystems, food security, water availability, livelihoods, and health.

The program will be put into action during the GEF-9 investment cycle, which runs from 2026 to 2030.

The facility noted that this program responds to requests from UNCCD parties to focus on drought resilience in its programming.

It will help countries and communities prepare for, monitor, assess, mitigate, and respond to the impacts of drought.

"Investing in healthy land and healthy people means investing in food security, climate resilience, biodiversity, water, jobs, and peace," said Claude Gascon, GEF Interim CEO and Chairperson.

"Through this new Integrated Program, we will support countries in moving from crisis response toward proactive drought resilience."

The Drylands and Drought Management Integrated Program has a GEF grant envelope of $140 million.

Support for Rangelands Initiative

The GEF is also backing the Rangelands Flagship Initiative. This is a global effort led by Mongolia and the UNCCD aimed at increasing investment in conserving, managing, and restoring rangelands.

The GEF supports the initiative through the UNCCD COP17 Legacy Project. This project has a GEF investment of $3.3 million, with an additional $8 million in co-financing from Mongolia and IUCN.

During the GEF-8 cycle from 2022 to 2026, the GEF approved 50 projects aimed at sustainable rangeland management and restoration, along with supporting pastoralist livelihoods. The total investment for these projects is over $300 million.

The GEF said these projects, now at different stages of development, could help boost the Rangelands Flagship Initiative and improve rangeland management and restoration methods.

What GEF-9 Means for Africa

The GEF-9 cycle starts with $3.9 billion to support more investments in nature-friendly development, drought resilience, and sustainable land management.

Four GEF-9 Integrated Programs align with UNCCD goals and are expected to bring in over $800 million in GEF grants. These include programs focused on Food Systems, Critical Forest Biomes, Blue and Green Islands, and the new Drylands and Drought Management Integrated Program.

With GEF-9, drought resilience will be more targeted and measurable. This cycle includes a goal for national drought plans, a drought vulnerability index as part of resource allocation, and new indicators to track drought resilience improvements.

The GEF said GEF-9 will support investments to help countries tackle urgent environmental issues in a wide-ranging approach. Also, 20 percent of resources will benefit Indigenous Peoples and local communities directly. Moreover, there will be a greater focus on raising private capital for environmental efforts. Ten percent of total GEF-9 funding will go to the blended finance window, aiming to use 25 percent of GEF resources to attract private investment.