Highlights and images for 20 December 2024

The achievements of the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF) in its first year were celebrated on the final day of the 68th Global Environmental Facility (GEF) Council meeting. The GEF Council met as the third GBFF Council with members hearing progress reports on the Fund’s programming and on efforts to set up its Advisory Group and Auxiliary Body.

The session opened as the 37th Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF)/Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF) Council. Council Members considered a Secretariat Planning Note for the development of the GEF Programming Strategy on Adaptation and operational improvements.

The Secretariat outlined a process that would begin as informal consultations in February 2025 and culminate in the presentation of the Strategy to the 40th LDCF/SCCF Council for its endorsement. The Council agreed to initiate the process as proposed.

The LDCF/SCCF Council also heard new pledges:

• GBP 10 million to the SCCF Window A from the UK;
• EUR 2.27 million to the LDCF from the Wallonia region of Belgium;
• EUR 15 million to the LDCF and EUR 20 million to the SCCF from Germany; and
• SEK 130 million to the LDCF from Sweden.

Members then switched to meeting as the GBFF Council. GEF CEO and Chairperson Carlos Manuel Rodríguez opened by touting the achievements of the GBFF since its launch in August 2023 at the seventh GEF Assembly in Vancouver, Canada. He noted its establishment and operationalization in record time, with 40 projects and nearly all of its first financing tranche used, and four projects already underway. Rodríguez highlighted the Fund’s many process and policy innovations and its quick progress toward fulfilling portfolio targets for engaging LDCs, small island developing States (SIDS), Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPLCs), multilateral development banks (MDBs) and international financial institutions (IFIs).

Addressing the GBFF Council, Astrid Schomaker, Executive Secretary, Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), also hailed GEF’s achievements in setting up the GBFF “super fast,” getting projects out quickly, acting like a innovation trailblazer, and quickly approaching portfolio targets. “It all bodes well for a mature, effective, and efficient Fund.”

The Secretariat presented a programming progress report to the Council highlighting how during the initial three selection rounds 40 proposals were selected, from 127, for a total of USD 201.6 million programmed. Another Secretariat briefing discussed feedback on modified terms of reference (TOR) for the Council’s Advisory Group of Non-Sovereign Participants and the resulting Secretariat proposal, which the Council approved.

The new Co-Chairs of the GBFF Council’s Auxiliary Body, Andrea Cruz (Mexico) and Sino Tohirzoda (Tajikistan), addressed the Council, noting that the Body held its first meeting on 10 December 2024 and stands ready to advise the Council on any topic the Council requests.

CEO and Chairperson Rodríguez closed the Council by thanking everyone for their collaboration and consensus during the week’s meetings. Noting that 2025 will not be any easier than 2024 was, as the impacts of the planetary crisis will continue increasing and impacting those most vulnerable to their effects, he asked participants to imagine what could be achieved more funding was available and requested everyone’s input on what the GEF needs to do to collectively increase Members’ ambition and better serve the world.