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Horses grazing in a mountain landscape

Nurturing landscapes, communities, and climate resilience in Kazakhstan

At the crossroads of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, and Uzbekistan, among high and rugged mountain ranges lies Aksu-Zhabagly Nature Reserve - the oldest nature reserve in Central Asia and a part of UNESCO's World Network of Biospheres and World Heritage List. Established in 1926 for its rich…
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Young plant growing in light

We have two months to start healing the world

Back-to-back summits on climate change and biodiversity will offer the world a unique chance to come together on two of the most critical issues of our time - climate and biodiversity. Change is possible. But given the size of the crises, we must use the coming two months to be brutally honest…
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Black rhino stands with baby in grass

A new lifeline for wildlife conservation finance

What do capital markets have to do with biodiversity? Until now, very little. This changed this week with the launch of a landmark Wildlife Conservation Bond or “rhino bond” that offers a payout linked to the protection of black rhinos, a critically endangered species whose health is essential to…
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Carlos Manuel Rodriguez surfing

A surfer's view on a blue and green recovery

In a blog for IUCN's World Conservation Congress, GEF CEO and Chairperson Carlos Manuel Rodriguez writes how surfing has given him a deeper understanding of oceans and marine life, and a passion for addressing biodiversity loss and climate change.
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Ruddy shelducks in flight at Maguri Bill, a biodiversity hotspot in India

How public development banks can help nature

Public development banks will be critical to global efforts to build back better from the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic fallout. To realize their potential, they should complement their climate investments by setting explicit nature-based goals and targets.
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Young Kyrgyz farmer picking corn

Working together to grow, nourish, and sustain

On October 16 every year, we celebrate World Food Day to highlight the enduring vision of a world free from hunger and malnutrition. This year, we face the unprecedented crisis of COVID-19, which threatens food security and human health and may push another 130 million people into hunger by the end…
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3d illustration of a half-burned forest

Welcome to the Anthropocene

The many overlapping crises of 2020 are not just hallmarks of a bad year. They reflect the human-caused environmental damage that will keep compounding in the epoch dubbed the Anthropocene, where humanity’s impact on the planet dominates all else. Writing for the World Bank's Voices blog, GEF CEO…
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Collage of images related to biodiversity

Why this decade is make-or-break for nature

Momentum to reverse nature loss is growing, but there is still a long way to go In evolutionary time, a decade is but a flick of nature’s eyelid. That makes the rapid depletion of biodiversity over the past 10 years all the more distressing. Our forests are disappearing, our coral reefs are dying…
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Forest and mountain landscape of Hawaii

Mapping nature to create a global biodiversity framework

The year 2020 was considered a 'super year' for biodiversity. A string of interconnected events offered a unique opportunity to build a global coalition and international policy framework that recognized the central role of nature to all life on Earth. At the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP 15) 196…
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A baby orangutan hangs on a tree in Borneo

Why companies should worry about losing wildlife

Biodiversity loss threatens society, businesses and a well-functioning economy Biodiversity has decreased by 60 percent in just four decades, the WWF Living Planet Index has concluded. Scientists even speak of the Earth entering the sixth extinction event in its history, and it appears that the…

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