The world is entering a decisive decade for environmental action, where climate change, biodiversity loss, land degradation, chemical pollution, and declining marine and freshwater resources threaten not only ecosystems but also social and economic stability. These crises are deeply interconnected, amplifying risks to lives and livelihoods, food systems, and security as they unfold in a global context of increasing recovery costs, rising debt burdens, geopolitical tensions, and widening inequality. The urgency of action has never been greater, demanding solutions that move beyond isolated interventions toward integrated, systemic, and sustainable transformational change.
Delays in addressing these challenges will further lock in unsustainable practices, deepen vulnerability, and raise the eventual costs of transition. Immediate and coordinated action is therefore essential if the global community is to avoid irreversible tipping points and secure a more resilient future. In addition, with greater scrutiny from citizens, investors, and markets, institutions are being measured by the credibility of their actions—placing the GEF in a position to demonstrate leadership through policy reform, market transformation, and innovative finance in advancing transformational change.
The GEF serves multiple global environmental agreements, including the Convention on Biological Diversity, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, and the Stockholm and Minamata Conventions on chemicals and mercury. Its international waters focal area operates under several multilateral agreements addressing international and transboundary water systems, and the GEF also serves as part of the financial mechanism for the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction. This broad mandate gives the GEF a distinctive comparative advantage and capacity to design integrated solutions that link land, water, climate, biodiversity, forests, energy, chemicals, and cities into coherent strategies that connect global priorities with local realities and catalyze policy, institutional, and behavioral change.
The Eighth Comprehensive Evaluation of the GEF (OPS8) centers on integration as a driver of change, reflecting the need for approaches that connect sectors, actors, financing models, systems, and policy frameworks to address today’s complex and interconnected environmental challenges. This focus builds on a core premise of the GEF’s evolution: that solving these challenges requires coherent, multisectoral solutions and alignment of policies, institutions, and behaviors, while also acknowledging the complexity, transaction costs, and selectivity challenges involved. The GEF’s mandate to serve multiple global environmental agreements positions it to pursue this broader vision of integration—not only through flagship impact programs but also by embedding social inclusion, private sector engagement, and risk‑taking innovation across its portfolio.
OPS8 examines how the integration approach is shaping the GEF’s work, drawing on 34 evaluations and studies completed since 2022. It assesses performance across focal areas and country programs, highlighting achievements and lessons on socioeconomic co‑benefits that link environmental outcomes with improved livelihoods and resilience. The report reviews the contribution of integrated programs in driving systemic solutions, considers how inclusion—particularly the participation of Indigenous Peoples and local communities—has strengthened ownership and outcomes, and examines private sector engagement, risk‑taking innovation, and the functioning of the GEF partnership that brings together diverse implementing Agencies and stakeholders. Finally, OPS8 evaluates the systems that support delivery, including results‑based management and knowledge management, underscoring their importance for adaptive learning and transformational impact.
OPS8 is timed to inform negotiations for the ninth replenishment of the GEF Trust Fund, at a moment when donors and countries are seeking clarity on how the GEF can deepen its impact, enhance its efficiency, and strengthen its role as a global convener of solutions that work across sectors and scales.
The conclusions and recommendations that follow build on the evidence presented in this report to strengthen the GEF partnership and its supporting systems, build on established strengths, address key challenges, and refine its approach to deliver greater impact and drive transformational change in the years ahead.
