Additional pledges bring Global Environment Facility funding to US$4.4 billion, announced at COP17
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Additional contributions pledged for the Global Environment Facility’s (GEF) new funding cycle total US$500 million, bringing overall funding to US$4.4 billion. Armenia has also begun preliminary discussions on the possibility of contributing to the facility.
GEF Chief Executive Officer Diego Mesa Puyo announced this during COP17, explaining that the facility operates through four-year funding cycles, with donors providing resources for the following four years.
He said preparations for the new funding round were already under way. Initial pledges totalling US$3.9 billion had been announced in June at the GEF conference in Uzbekistan.
“Since then, additional pledges have totalled US$500 million, bringing overall funding from US$3.9 billion to US$4.4 billion,” Mesa Puyo said.
He said additional resources had also been pledged for the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF), established to support biodiversity conservation projects. A further US$60 million in contributions had been announced for the fund.
Mesa Puyo noted that Berlin was contributing to the GBFF for the first time. This followed a contribution from the Canadian province of Quebec, the first subnational entity to support the fund.
“New contributors also include Iceland and Monaco, while Quebec has announced its intention to make another contribution. Spain has pledged €50 million to the GEF’s main trust fund. Uzbekistan is also contributing to the facility for the first time, with around US$4.6 million.
“The United Kingdom has reaffirmed its financial support, committing an additional £330 million, equivalent to around US$400 million. This amount was not included in the initial pledges announced in June. Together, these contributions make up the additional US$500 million announced today,” the GEF Chief Executive Officer said.
He said the facility’s funding was important both for its direct investments and for attracting additional public and private resources.
Mesa Puyo said that during the 2022–2026 funding cycle, every dollar invested by the facility had helped mobilise around US$8 in additional financing. Blended finance, which combines concessional and commercial financing, had also proved effective, attracting around US$18.50 for every dollar invested.
The Chief Executive Officer said efforts to mobilise additional resources would continue during the new funding cycle. A pledging event is also planned in Türkiye during the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
He described the US$4.4 billion already pledged as the facility’s second-largest funding cycle in the past 30 years, calling it a positive result.
Turning to Armenia’s possible participation, Mesa Puyo said the country had also begun preliminary discussions on contributing to the facility.
“Armenia has announced that it has already begun preliminary discussions with a view to making a contribution. We do not yet have a specific figure for the contribution, but Armenia has publicly stated that the matter is being discussed domestically,” he said.