Thirty years of existence have seen the Global Environment Facility (GEF) solidify its position as a truly transnational financial mechanism dedicated to progress on a planetary scale. Its multilateral funds have been instrumental in assisting developing territories and supporting global environmental commitments. Since its inception more than three decades ago, the GEF has provided more than $26 billion in grant-giving schemes, with a further $153 billion mobilised for country-driven priority projects.

These figures are set to be updated following a notable decision at the 69th GEF Council Meeting that brought together 186 member states in early June 2025. Together, they approved the allocation of:

• $195 million from the GEF Trust Fund

• $40 million from the Least Developed Countries Fund

• $26 million from the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund

• more than $3 billion in co-financing from other sources

Impetus behind this ninth and latest budgetary replenishment in the Facility’s history was provided by a number of critical international pacts with targets foreseen for the Earth’s biosphere by 2030. In that sense, the realignment zeroes in on the aims behind the following global accords:

• Agreement on Marine Biodiversity in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction

• UN Convention on Biological Diversity

• Minamata Convention on Mercury

• Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants

• UN Convention to Combat Desertification

• UN Framework Convention on Climate Change

Meanwhile, 2022’s eighth replenishment (valued at the record $5.3 billion), has seen a steady integration into the network of associated programmes serviced by the GEF over the past three years. Both this financial adjustment and its successor will be a topic of discussion at the forthcoming 8th Assembly of the organisation in May 2026, with the host country set to be Uzbekistan.

More on the specifics surrounding the forthcoming GEF funding replenishment and its implications can be found in the official GEF press release.