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The Global Environment Facility (GEF) Council, which met in December 2025, has approved $372 million for 36 environmental projects and programmes in developing countries, according to an official GEF statement.
The GEF, set up in 1992, is the main multilateral fund that helps developing countries meet commitments under international environmental agreements such as the Convention on Biological Diversity. Its projects include the conservation of biodiversity, protection against climate change, recovery of lands, and ecosystem management.
The decisions come as countries work towards meeting the 2030 biodiversity targets under the Kunming Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, adopted in 2022.
Most of the approved funding will flow through the GEF Trust Fund, which will provide about $291 million, making it the largest contributor in this round.
An additional $49 million was approved through the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) to support climate adaptation in vulnerable countries. The Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF) provided $3 million, while $29 million was approved from the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF).
Biodiversity was a strong theme in this round of approvals.
Many of the projects cleared by the Council focus on restoring ecosystems, protecting habitats and managing land and marine areas more sustainably.
This matters because funding for biodiversity continues to fall short of what is needed. For several developing countries, the GEF remains one of the few reliable sources of public money for conservation work. Its funding choices therefore play a major role in shaping what countries can actually implement on the ground.
The GBFF was created with the aim of helping countries turn global biodiversity goals into national action.
At the December meeting, the GBFF Council approved a work programme worth about $28 million, supporting projects in Colombia, Indonesia and Madagascar. Including this work program, in under 24 months, the GBFF has now invested over $288.7 million for 62 projects benefiting 71 countries.
In Colombia, the Biomanglar project focuses on protecting and restoring mangroves along the Pacific coast in Chocó, Valle del Cauca, Cauca, and Nariño. The project works closely with Afro-Colombian communities, who have long protected these ecosystems, strengthening local governance and community-led conservation. It aims to restore damaged mangroves, improve connectivity between ecosystems, and support the management of nearly 620,000 hectares of land and marine protected areas. Alongside conservation, the project promotes sustainable livelihoods such as artisanal fishing, piangua harvesting, and nature-based tourism, directly supporting around 3,860 people, especially women and youth.
In Madagascar, a new project builds on earlier GEF-backed efforts to strengthen locally managed marine areas. It supports community-led marine conservation while helping secure long-term funding by reinforcing two national conservation trust funds. The initiative is expected to benefit at least 5,450 people, mainly from Indigenous and local communities, through capacity building, shared learning, inclusive governance, and support for sustainable livelihoods.
In Indonesia, a project focuses on wild ecotourism and aims to utilise tourism as a means of supporting conservation and benefiting local communities through conservation. The project aims to integrate conservation of biodiversity into land and sea planning of five national parks, build more effective indigenous conservation, and ensure beneficial tourism sharing. Well, over half of additional tourism revenues are expected to be channeled back into park administration, and approximately 6,000 individuals will be beneficiary.
Together, these projects highlight how mangrove protection, marine conservation, and community-led biodiversity initiatives can strengthen ecosystems while supporting local livelihoods.
Alongside biodiversity financing, the Council has adopted new adaptation projects that highlight the relationship between climate action and protecting biodiversity by concentrating on the restoration of biodiversity and resilience.
As the 2030 deadline draws closer, the focus will increasingly be on whether these projects produce lasting benefits to the environments and communities they support.
The meeting also marked a leadership change at the GEF, with Carlos Manuel Rodríguez stepping down as Chief Executive Officer and Chairperson after leading the organization since 2020. An interim CEO has been appointed ahead of the GEF’s next funding cycle beginning in 2026, a period likely to shape how global environmental finance responds to the fast-approaching 2030 deadline.