The GEF plays a strategic and distinct role in the international environmental finance architecture. For over 30 years, it has served as the primary financial mechanism for the three Rio conventions: the Convention on Biological Diversity, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. Beyond these, the GEF provides financial support to other multilateral environmental agreements, including the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, the Minamata Convention on Mercury, and the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (through its Multilateral Fund). In 2023, the GEF was also designated the financial mechanism for the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund, which supports implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, further consolidating the GEF’s leadership in biodiversity finance.
The GEF also finances global action in other critical areas. Its international waters focal area supports transboundary cooperation aligned with global legal frameworks such as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and regional mechanisms like the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Water Convention. In the area of sustainable forest management, the GEF contributes to the goals of the United Nations Strategic Plan for Forests 2017–2030 and the United Nations Forum on Forests. Through its integrated programming model, the GEF aims to foster coherence and synergy across multilateral environmental agreements, helping countries implement commitments in a coordinated and cost-effective manner while addressing systemic drivers of environmental degradation.
Although the GEF does not finance the SDGs directly, its programming is aligned with the SDG agenda. GEF-financed projects contribute to SDG 13 (climate action), SDG 14 (life below water), and SDG 15 (life on land), as well as SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation), SDG 7 (affordable and clean energy), and SDG 12 (responsible consumption and production). Through sustainable land management, agriculture, fisheries, and urban development, the GEF also supports SDGs 2 (zero hunger) and 11 (sustainable cities and communities). Initiatives under the Small Grants Programme (SGP) contribute to SDGs 1 (no poverty) and 5 (gender equality), reflecting the GEF’s emphasis on local action, equity, and empowerment of marginalized groups.
The GEF-8 Programming Directions outline a dual strategy:
This approach enables the GEF to deliver both vertical (thematic) depth and horizontal (systemic) integration, maximizing synergies across environmental sectors and funding streams. GEF-8 also aimed to strengthen alignment with national priorities, enhance multistakeholder engagement (including with the private sector), and promote country ownership through a comprehensive Country Engagement Strategy.
Innovation is a core pillar of GEF-8. It is supported by mechanisms such as the Innovation Window and the Non-Grant Instrument Program, which aim to de-risk investment, scale up successful models, and mobilize private capital. The GEF-8 strategy also places emphasis on policy coherence for environmental benefits; monitoring and learning; and delivering co-benefits, such as improved livelihoods, enhanced food and water security, and gender equity. GEF-8 programs aim to be inclusive and participatory, ensuring benefits reach the most vulnerable.
On climate adaptation, GEF-8 aims to integrate resilience building into thematic programs such as Sustainable Cities, Food Systems, and Ecosystem Restoration. The approach emphasizes ecosystem-based adaptation, nature-based solutions, and integrated natural resource management, embedding adaptation into broader development strategies rather than treating it as a stand-alone objective.
Despite its critical mandate, the GEF operates under increasingly constrained financial conditions. Funding levels have remained relatively flat across successive replenishment periods, even as environmental challenges grow more urgent and complex. To maximize its limited core resources, the GEF has historically mobilized significant cofinancing—often at a ratio of 1:7—through contributions from its Agencies, development banks, private investors, and country partners. Yet sustaining this degree of leverage is becoming more difficult. Many countries are facing heightened fiscal pressure from rising debt burdens, economic shocks, and intensifying demands on public spending. These constraints are diminishing the ability of both public and private actors to coinvest in environmental initiatives at the same scale as before.
In response, the GEF is deepening its collaboration with other major climate and environmental finance mechanisms—including the Green Climate Fund, the Climate Investment Funds, and the Adaptation Fund—to promote synergies and reduce fragmentation. It is also expanding the use of blended finance and innovative financial instruments to crowd in private capital and enhance the impact of its investments.
With its integrated approach, long-standing partnerships, and experience across sectors and geographies, the GEF remains well positioned to help countries respond to the accelerating environmental crisis. By supporting systemic transformation and aligning environmental action with socioeconomic development, GEF-8 offers a path forward that is not only environmentally effective but also economically inclusive and socially equitable.
