The Council of the Least Developed Countries Fund and the Special Climate Change Fund has approved almost $40 million in funding for new projects to boost resilience across Africa and the Pacific.
Financed through the GEF’s Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF), the initiatives will promote nature-based solutions, strengthen climate-smart livelihoods, and scale up access to adaptation finance for rural and remote communities from the Sahel to the Solomon Islands.
GEF CEO and Chairperson Carlos Manuel Rodríguez said the new tranche of approvals reflected the LDCF’s continued commitment to supporting country-driven adaptation solutions in the world’s most climate-vulnerable nations.
“Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States are on the frontline of the global environmental crisis. Yet it is exactly these countries, where the challenges are greatest, that are showing us the way forward with nature-positive, inclusive solutions – solutions that the GEF is proud to support.”
New projects include a regional initiative to restore degraded landscapes and strengthen natural resource management in Chad and Mali, efforts to revitalize the climate-vulnerable shea ecosystem to support sustainable livelihoods in Uganda, and support for climate-resilient agriculture and food systems blending scientific and traditional knowledge in the Solomon Islands.
The LDCF will also join the GEF Trust Fund to support resilient landscape and seascape management in Madagascar, including via the planned launch of a groundbreaking ‘Lemur Bond’ – an outcome-based financing mechanism mobilizing capital markets to protect biodiversity and improve community livelihoods in and around protected areas.
The latest programming brings GEF adaptation investments through the LDCF to over $618 million in the current four-year funding cycle, complemented by over $2.9 billion in co-finance.
Following is an overview of the approved projects and programs:
AFRICA
Science-based management of biodiversity and natural resources for economic development project (GEF ID 11694)
This blended finance project, with support from both the GEF Trust Fund and LDCF, will support resilient landscape and seascape management in Madagascar, including through the launch of an innovative outcome-based bond leveraging capital markets to protect endangered species and boost community livelihoods and climate resilience in and around protected areas. The Lemur bond stems from engagement with international finance institutions, development partners, and the private sector regarding a new Country Platform, co-convened by the IMF and World Bank and hosted by Madagascar in October 2024.
Country: Madagascar
Implementing agency: World Bank
GEF financing: $20 million ($18.2 million from GEF Trust Fund and $1.8 million from LDCF), Co-financing: $162.3 million
Sahel RESILAND Program: Building resilience through sustainable natural resource management (GEF ID 11743)
This initiative will promote transboundary cooperation and climate-smart landscape restoration in the Sahel, with a focus on Chad and Mali. It includes efforts to advance climate resilience practices and national investment in landscape management led by rural communities, including increasing women’s participation in the non-timber forest product and fishery sectors.
Countries: Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger
Implementing agency: World Bank
GEF financing: $18.8 million, Co-financing: $411.5 million
Building a climate-resilient and sustainable Shea landscape of northern Uganda (GEF ID 11701)
This project aims to enhance sustainability and resilience in northern Uganda, where the shea tree population has been declining due to large-scale cutting, bushfires, and land clearing for cultivation, contributing to degradation of the savanna ecosystem and making local communities vulnerable to climate change impacts. It will support integrated land management, strengthen natural resource governance system and increase local community access to finance to improve the commercialization of shea nuts and shea products along the value chain, for a source of sustainable and climate-resilient livelihoods.
Country: Uganda
Implementing agency: CI
LDCF financing: $6.7 million, Co-financing: $13.4 million
ASIA & THE PACIFIC
Resilient rural economic growth and food security (GEF ID 11699)
This project will identify and promote climate-resilient options for stimulating the rural economy in five provinces of the Solomon Islands, providing support to local communities as they seek to develop subsistence and commercial agriculture as part of a comprehensive food systems approach. These efforts will be designed to ensure that adaptation measures are integrated into local governance frameworks and customary systems.
Country: Solomon Islands
Implementing agency: FAO
LDCF financing: $8.9 million, Co-financing: $29.7 million
