LETTER FROM THE CEO

Monique Barbut

Dear Colleagues,

One of the key lessons we have learned during the replenishment process is that our ultimate success will depend on the relationship the GEF has with its partners: public sector, businesses and civil society deserve an equal and important role in this institution.

And it has been my experience over the past three years that there is no weakest link in this network: as we look back on the reforms we have made and the results we have accomplished each of our partners has been a change agent. More...

A Unique Institutional Arrangement for Natural Resources Management

The Government of Ghana obtained a grant from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) for a Northern Savannah Biodiversity Conservation Project (NSBCP) to support the conservation of biodiversity, agro-biodiversity, and the sustainable utilization of medicinal plants in the three northern regions of Ghana. More...

GEF-Country Partnership: Safeguarding Drylands in the People’s Republic of China

Much of the land area in northwest of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is arid or semi-arid, and cover roughly 40% of the country’s total land area. These areas are highly vulnerable to drought and desertification, and account for a significant proportion of land degradation in the country. More...

GEF International Waters Meeting Discusses Rapid Ocean Warming

As part of the GEF International Waters (IW) focal area experience sharing and learning program, the Fifth GEF Biennial International Waters Conference was held in Cairns, Australia October 24-29, 2009. Co-hosted by the Government of Australia and the GEF, the Fifth Biennial IW portfolio conference is the latest in a series of such South-to-South learning meetings of the GEF IW portfolio the last decade that have been held in Hungary, China, Brazil, South Africa, and now Australia. More...

No turn on REDD

Forests have a huge potential for carbon sequestration and storage and currently, there is more carbon stored in forests than in the earth’s atmosphere. However, for the first phase of the Kyoto Protocol (2008-2012), the importance of existing forests for climate change mitigation has not been considered. Since the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) stated in its Fourth Assessment Report in 2007 that deforestation in developing countries contributes about 20 percent of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. More...