BRASILIA - The Global Environment Facility (GEF)’s governing body has approved a record $1.4bn work programme. GEF CEO and Chairperson Carlos Manuel Rodríguez described the large work programme as a major boost for global efforts to end species loss this decade.

“The Global Environment Facility has a clear role to play in getting resources where they need to be as countries look to put nature first in their planning. The game-changing programmes and projects in this record work programme reflects that mandate,” said the former Costa Rican energy and environment minister.

The GEF funding is set to generate another $9.1bn in co-financing from other sources, for a total support package of $10.5bn. Most of the support is to be delivered through six of eleven new Integrated Programmes (IPs) launched for the four-year GEF-8 funding period. These IPs are designed to target the drivers of environmental degradation across many sectors.

As part of the GEF work programme, UNIDO will receive $60.2m in project funding. The project funds will be distributed among seven projects that are part of three IPs, and one stand-alone project. In addition, UNIDO has one project that will be supported by the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) and the Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF). This project is being awarded with a total LDCF/SCCF resources of $2.2m.

The first set of projects, devoted to Circular Solutions to Plastic Pollution, will be developed for South Africa, Morocco, India and the Philippines. The focus lies on tackling the identified root causes of plastic pollution, namely unsustainable consumption, high usage of single-use plastic packaging, and a low level of recycling. The strategy is to reduce plastic waste, with the ultimate goal of eliminating it. In parallel, the circulation of materials and products will be enhanced by introducing reuse and refill systems.

The second set of projects will be directed at construction supply chains and fashion supply chains in Costa Rica and India, respectively, as part of the Elimination of Hazardous Chemicals from Supply Chains IP. These projects have been selected as these two types of supply chains are complex and long, and are responsible for a major share of chemical pollution and biodiversity loss.

The third set, on Net-Zero Nature-Positive Acceleration, is a project decarbonizing industries in Thailand.

The stand-alone project is the Green Hydrogen Energy Application Project in China, which will facilitate the energy transition in three cities: Ningdong, Dalian and Shenyang. The project is designed to benefit at least 50,000 local inhabitants in terms of green job creation and air pollution reduction, and will mitigate 147 million tonnes of CO2.

The LDCF/SCCF project’s focus area will amplify the impact of the Challenge Programme for Adaptation Innovation of the GEF through learning and knowledge management. The main purpose is to strengthen the private sector’s engagement in accelerating climate adaptation through enhancing innovation. A centralized website and learning strategy will facilitate the capture and sharing of the learning experiences from projects supported by the Challenge Programme for Adaptation Innovation. A total of 1,554 people, of which 50% will be women, and about 50 private sector enterprises, will benefit.

The GEF was created on the eve of the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro as a financial mechanism to enable developing countries to take action on urgent environmental challenges.