Participants will explore how governments, businesses, researchers and civil society can work together to advance sustainable development, finance the green transition and turn ambitious goals into practical action.

The successful end of 18 months of negotiations for the ninth replenishment of the GEF Trust Fund “represents a renewed vote of confidence in multilateralism, in the GEF partnership, and in the importance of the global environment.” Many also urged prioritizing the private sector’s involvement and participants pointed to the vast finance gap all MEAs face.

As delegates tried to balance ambitious and increasing mandates for the Forum and its Secretariat with increasingly constrained resources, some wondered if scale and velocity can be achieved in time to realize even part of the UN Strategic Plan for Forests by its 2030 deadline.

Participants discussed the agenda for the Mountain Partnership going forward, including strong calls for reinforcing the science-policy interface and ensuring mountain issues are better reflected in climate and other international processes.