1.5 Organization of this report
The GEF has adopted integration as a core strategy to drive transformational change and deliver global environmental benefits. In this way, it can address the root causes of environmental degradation through coordinated, cross-sectoral actions. This approach aims to break down silos, promote synergies across global environmental goals, and align efforts with national development priorities. The ultimate aim is to enable change that is sustainable, scalable, and resilient.
Given this context, this report places a strong emphasis on integration as a unifying principle of GEF programming. It provides evidence on how integrated approaches have contributed to large-scale system transformations and supported more cohesive approaches to environmental management. Further, integration is examined across key dimensions—including social inclusion, risk and innovation, private sector engagement, and policy coherence—reflecting the GEF’s ambition to deliver holistic, people-centered, and systemwide impacts.
This report is structured around three core themes: what works in the GEF (i.e., GEF performance), enablers of transformational change, and the partners and systems that support the GEF’s effectiveness. This approach allows us to delve deeper to understand the factors underpinning recent external rankings and assessments of the GEF conducted by MOPAN (2025). Presentation of these three themes is bookended by introductory context-setting information and conclusions and recommendations; a set of detailed data tables is provided in annex D. The report’s organization follows:
Part I: Context for OPS8 provides the context in which to place the evaluative evidence.
- This chapter describes the global environmental background including challenges and financing; outlines the scope and methodology of OPS8, and reviews progress made in implementing OPS7 recommendations, thus providing the contextual background for the evidence and analysis presented in subsequent chapters.
- Chapter 2: The GEF portfolio provides an overview of the GEF portfolio as of end June 2025, including trends in resource allocation, regional distribution, and Agency participation.
Part II: Performance focuses on the performance and results of the GEF. Its chapters examine how GEF interventions deliver results across multiple dimensions of environmental and social performance.
- Chapter 3: GEF performance analyzes the performance of completed GEF projects and provides a real‑time review of how GEF‑8 projects are designed for transformational change. Country‑level findings from strategic cluster evaluations in drylands, the Lower Mekong River Basin, and SIDS are also presented; along with pathways to transformational change through broader adoption, policy coherence, and behavioral shifts. The chapter concludes with an assessment of administrative and operational efficiency.
- Chapter 4: Socioeconomic co‑benefits presents evidence on the socioeconomic co‑benefits generated by GEF interventions, highlighting how environmental actions can also support livelihoods, health, and community well‑being.
- Chapter 5: Focal area performance assesses the performance of the GEF portfolio across the GEF focal areas—biodiversity, climate change, international waters, land degradation, and chemicals and waste—highlighting areas of strength as well as persistent challenges. Also discussed is how focal area strategies have evolved over time to better reflect the GEF’s shift toward greater integration. The GEF’s experience in implementing multifocal projects and nature-based solutions that cut across several focal areas is also discussed in this chapter.
Part III: Enablers of transformation focuses on the enablers that support transformational change across the GEF portfolio. It examines how integration, social inclusion, innovation and risk-taking, and engagement with the private sector create the conditions necessary for systemic, scalable, and sustainable environmental solutions. These themes are explored as cross-cutting factors that strengthen program design, foster partnerships, and accelerate the adoption of impactful approaches—reflecting GEF‑8 priorities and its ambition to drive long-term change beyond individual projects.
- Chapter 6: Integrated programming examines evidence on the GEF’s integrated programming model, including the integrated approach pilots of GEF‑6, the Impact Programs of GEF‑7, and the integrated programs of GEF‑8, highlighting how this evolution is designed to promote systemic change and reviewing the progress achieved to date.
- Chapter 7: Operationalizing social inclusion offers insights on inclusion in the GEF portfolio, with a focus on the participation and empowerment of women, Indigenous Peoples, youth, and other marginalized groups. It reviews GEF policies on safeguards, gender, and Indigenous Peoples along with lessons from their implementation. The chapter also highlights how community-based approaches and the SGP contribute to inclusion.
- Chapter 8: Engagement with the private sector presents findings on the GEF’s engagement with the private sector, including the performance of its Non‑Grant Instrument Program, highlighting the role of private investment and partnerships in advancing environmental outcomes.
- Chapter 9: Risk and innovation presents evidence on how the GEF approaches risk and fosters innovation, highlighting the role of risk and innovation in enabling transformational change and supporting the development and scaling of novel solutions.
Part IV: GEF institutional framework covers the GEF’s institutional framework.
- Chapter 10: Partners and financing examines the functioning of the GEF partnership, including the Country Engagement Strategy, the roles of the GEF Agencies, the STAP, and civil society organizations. It also analyzes GEF financing, focusing on donor contributions and cofinancing arrangements, and how these mechanisms support effective implementation of the GEF mandate.
- Chapter 11: GEF results and learning systems discusses the GEF’s results‑based management and knowledge management systems, which are essential for strengthening accountability, enabling learning, and improving decision‑making across the GEF partnership.
Finally, Part V: Planning for GEF-9 looks to the future. It draws on the findings and lessons presented throughout the report to inform the GEF’s strategic direction in its next replenishment cycle.
- Chapter 12: Conclusions and recommendations draws together the main conclusions of the report and provides forward-looking recommendations to guide the strategic direction of GEF‑9. It builds on the evidence and lessons from across the report, highlighting priorities to strengthen the GEF’s catalytic role, enhance its responsiveness to emerging global environmental challenges, and position it to deliver greater transformational impact in the next replenishment period.
