GEF Council approves final GEF-8 funding and prepares for 2030 push

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) trust fund’s governing body has approved $144.3 million in the final disbursement of its eighth funding period and welcomed donor country contributions for the next four years, aligned with the final sprint towards 2030 international environmental goals, according to a press release. Meeting in Samarkand, the 71st GEF Council endorsed a 16-project work program supporting ocean ecosystems through the Blue Nature Alliance, biodiversity conservation through the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund, landscape and coastal restoration, and nature-positive investment. The decisions mark the close of the GEF-8 cycle, which ends in June 2026. The Council also welcomed the conclusion of the GEF-9 replenishment with an initial envelope of $3.9 billion. Together, the moves position the partnership for an intensified push to meet global environmental targets.

The newly funded projects include efforts to safeguard flyways for migratory birds from East Asia to Australia, improve water management across Central Asia, and reduce human-wildlife conflict in Botswana. They also bolster ecosystems’ resilience to fire in India and support renewable power generation and storage in Uzbekistan through blended finance. The trust fund work program is set to mobilize more than $828 million, with each GEF dollar matched with $6.40 in co-financing. The Council additionally acknowledged nearly $200 million in smaller-sized projects approved since the beginning of the year, which generated $899 million in co-financing. About 97 percent of the record $5.3 billion GEF-8 envelope will be allocated across the GEF’s 144 recipient countries.

GEF-8 programming is expected to result in the creation or improvement of more than 1.9 billion hectares of marine protected areas and over 100 million hectares of terrestrial protected areas. It will also support the restoration of over 10 million hectares of degraded land. GEF-funded initiatives will mitigate over 2.2 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions. They will reduce more than 260,000 metric tons of dangerous chemicals and waste, including persistent organic pollutants and mercury. The 11 Integrated Programs launched in GEF-8 have fully invested the $1.65 billion allocated to address the drivers of environmental degradation.

Interim GEF CEO Claude Gascon underscored the cooperative spirit behind the new replenishment.

“The GEF-9 replenishment process has shown what becomes possible when we choose cooperation and collaboration—when we come together to act not just for our own countries, but for our shared planet,” he said.

Aziz Abdukhakimov, Advisor to the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, welcomed Council members to Samarkand and cited years of support to protect biodiversity, including the snow leopard.

“I am honored to announce Uzbekistan’s intention to become one of the first countries in Central Asia to contribute to the GEF-9 replenishment,” Abdukhakimov said.

The Rob Walton Foundation also announced up to $50 million to support conservation of Africa’s keystone protected areas across 162 critical ecosystems.

The Council meetings preceded the Eighth GEF Assembly in Uzbekistan, the flagship gathering of the GEF partnership held approximately every four years. The Assembly will feature high-level plenary meetings, roundtables, and side events focused on the final sprint to 2030 environmental goals. It brings together government officials, policymakers, civil society, and the private sector. The GEF serves six multilateral environmental conventions, including the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Minamata Convention on Mercury, and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. With GEF-9 set to run from July 2026 to June 2030, the partnership now turns to delivering on its expanded mandate.