This excludes the Country Support Program ($28 million) and the corporate budget ($187 million) which were part of the total GEF-8 replenishment ($5.33 billion). Source: GEF (2024d).
This excludes the Country Support Program ($21 million), and the corporate budget ($151.9 million) which were part of the total GEF-7 replenishment ($4.052 billion). Source: GEF (2022d).
The cumulative portfolio of 2,475 completed GEF projects for which performance ratings were independently validated through June 2025.
The cumulative portfolio of 2,475 completed GEF projects for which performance ratings were independently validated through June 2025.
Chapter 3– GEF Performance
See GEF IEO (2024d) for a detailed description of the GEF IEO’s rating methodology.
The material in this subsection is drawn from three strategic country cluster evaluations covering drylands, the Lower Mekong River Basin, and Pacific SIDS and an independent portfolio review of Caribbean SIDS.
The sample was drawn from the 161 completed GEF-6 and GEF-7 projects with terminal evaluations submitted as of June 30, 2024.
World Bank, Financial Intermediary Funds (FIFs) web page.
Some of the LDCF administrative costs are shared with the GEF Trust Fund administrative costs.
Some of the LDCF administrative costs are shared with the GEF Trust Fund administrative costs.
Chapter 4– Socioeconomic co-benefits
Community-based approaches are discussed further in chapter 7.
Chapter 5– Focal area performance
GEF-8 is ongoing, and thus the data might not be complete.
Land degradation neutrality refers to a state where the amount and quality of land resources needed to support ecosystem services remain stable or increase over time, essentially meaning no net loss of healthy and productive land, achieved through practices such as sustainable land management and restoration efforts to counterbalance land degradation; it is a key goal within the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.
At COP-5 in 2023, the Minamata Convention COP conducted the second review of the financial mechanism, confirming its alignment with the convention’s guidance (IISD 2023).
This example is drawn from the integrated program on Circular Solutions for Plastic Pollution, one of several recycling and plastic pollution projects reviewed as part of the chemicals and waste evaluation portfolio.
Chapter 6– Integrated programming
Integrated programming refers to initiatives that tackle environmental challenges through holistic, cross-sectoral approaches. In the context of the GEF, this term encompasses both the GEF-8 integrated programs and other GEF initiatives that employ integrated strategies. In this chapter, the term “integrated programming” refers to the GEF-6 integrated approach pilots, the GEF-7 impact programs, and the GEF-8 integrated programs.
REDD+ refers to reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, plus the sustainable management of forests and the conservation and enhancement of forest carbon stocks.
In spite of the change in title from “integrated” to “impact,” the approach was similar.
Of the 30 child projects approved under GEF-6, 22 had been completed by June 30, 2025.
There are some qualifications on the comparability between the cohorts of child projects under GEF-6, GEF-7, and GEF-8. For example, the GEF introduced efficiency measures in 2018 requiring full-size projects to progress from project identification form approval to CEO endorsement within 18 months. Child projects under GEF-6 IAPs that received CEO endorsement in 2016 and 2017 were prepared before the introduction of the 18-month requirement. Also, as the evaluation of the Sustainable Cities Integrated Program suggests, child project implementation delays also depend on duration of project implementation (GEF IEO forthcoming-r). After adjusting for this, differences in implementation delays between GEF-6 and GEF-7 are lessened.
The analysis underlying these figures compares coordination project budgets as a percentage of total program costs across GEF replenishment periods.
Chapter 7– Operationalizing social inclusion
The sample includes 200 completed projects from GEF-5 and GEF-6 with validated terminal evaluations, and 100 ongoing projects from GEF-7 and GEF-8.
Chapter 8– Engagement with the private sector
In the context of the GEF, NGIs are instruments that provide financing in a form that can potentially generate financial returns from the original investment or for principal repayment, irrespective of whether such financial flows are returned to the GEF Trust Fund. The information in this paragraph is drawn from GEF (2022a, 2024a).
This figure is based on an IEO review of project descriptions and cofinancing, executing entity, and NGI information; it is lower than self-tagged reporting on the GEF Portal.
Technical assistance is also a category in the PSES, but is not included due to its focus on providing technical assistance to Agencies to engage the private sector.
This considers reported cofinancing at the project identification form/Chief Executive Officer endorsement/approval stage. GEF financing excludes Agency fees and project preparation grant funding and fees.
Frontier markets are economies that are less developed and often smaller, more volatile, and less liquid than emerging markets, but still more advanced than LDCs. They include countries that have some access to capital markets and basic economic infrastructure but are often considered higher risk due to political instability, limited financial transparency, or fragile institutions. Examples include several Sub-Saharan African countries, SIDS, parts of Central Asia, and some postconflict or fragile economies. Frontier markets matter to the GEF because they overlap areas of high global environmental importance, such as biodiversity hotspots, tropical forests, and fragile marine ecosystems.
Chapter 10– Partners and financing
Intervention logic focuses on a clear, linear results chain—linking inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes, and impacts—primarily for planning, monitoring, and accountability. In contrast, a theory of change explores the broader context, assumptions, and causal pathways behind how and why change is expected to occur, supporting learning and adaptive management.
Note that there is some differentiation in cofinancing requirements across the GEF family of funds and that cofinancing is not a requirement for all funds.
These funds address different themes, countries, and priorities than the GEF Trust Fund; also, cofinancing is not a requirement for the LDCF/SCCF.
