Representatives from 186 countries have approved a new $3.9 billion funding package under the Global Environment Facility (GEF), reinforcing global efforts to address climate change, biodiversity loss, land degradation, and water security challenges. The investment will support environmental projects across 144 developing countries during the GEF-9 funding cycle, which runs from 2026 to 2030. The agreement was finalized at the GEF Assembly held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, where governments and international organizations gathered to define environmental priorities for the coming years.
The newly approved funding comes at a time when countries worldwide are facing growing environmental pressures, including extreme weather events, prolonged droughts, severe flooding, ecosystem degradation, and increasing climate-related risks. The investment aims to strengthen resilience, promote sustainable development, and help nations achieve international environmental commitments. Since its establishment in 1991, the GEF has become one of the world’s leading environmental financing mechanisms, supporting major global agreements focused on climate action and biodiversity conservation.
Currently, the GEF manages more than 2,300 active projects worldwide and oversees approximately $12.6 billion in ongoing financing. Through partnerships with governments, development institutions, and private-sector investors, the organization expects to mobilize an additional $80.5 billion in environmental investments. Over the past three decades, the GEF has provided more than $27 billion in grants and facilitated around $155 billion in environmental financing globally.
One of the organization’s most successful initiatives has been its Sustainable Cities Program, which has supported over 100 cities across 40 countries. The program helps local governments improve urban planning, strengthen climate resilience, and enhance environmental management systems. Experts have emphasized that grant funding can play an important role in attracting larger investments from development banks and private-sector partners, increasing the overall impact of environmental programs.
The GEF-9 funding package establishes a strategic framework for investments through 2030. Key areas of focus include biodiversity conservation, climate change mitigation and adaptation, restoration of degraded landscapes, sustainable freshwater management, protection of marine ecosystems, and the transformation of food systems toward more sustainable land-use practices. The funding framework prioritizes support for vulnerable nations, with at least 35 percent of Trust Fund resources allocated to least developed countries and small island developing states. Additionally, 20 percent of funding will be directed toward projects led by Indigenous peoples and local communities.
A major component of the new funding cycle involves reforms designed to improve access to environmental financing. The GEF plans to simplify procedures, reduce administrative barriers, and shorten project approval timelines, allowing countries to move more quickly from project design to implementation. The updated approach also promotes integrated solutions that simultaneously address climate change, biodiversity protection, agriculture, land degradation, and water management, creating broader environmental and social benefits.
