Negotiators will have three days to resolve the pending decisions from biodiversity negotiations in Colombia, including on resource mobilization, the GBF monitoring framework, and the financial mechanism.

The nearly USD 700 million Work Program approved focuses heavily on chemicals and waste at a time when the GEF hopes to prove to the multilateral community it has the capacity to serve as the financial mechanism for a global plastics treaty and that it could play a significant role in realizing the vision of the Global Framework on Chemicals.

A Just Land Transition would enable restoration of drylands while ensuring jobs, agricultural productivity, and social safety nets. Realizing this vision, speakers suggested, will require not only funding but also empowering community-based and women-led organizations.

Members reaffirmed the central role of sustainable tropical timber trade in meeting global environmental and development objectives. Yet, despite high global funding levels for forests, clarity on how these ambitions will be financed remains limited.