Global Environment Facility

What is the Global Environment Facility (GEF)?

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) was established on the eve of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit to help tackle our planet’s most pressing environmental problems. Since then, the GEF has provided more than $21.1 billion in grants and mobilized an additional $114 billion in cofinancing for more than 5,000 projects in 170 countries. Through its Small Grants Programme, the GEF has provided support to more than 25,000 civil society and community initiatives in 133 countries.

ADB is one of the accredited agencies of GEF and has been working together since the late – 1990s. The ADB-GEF partnership is anchored on the recognition of the vital links between environment and sustainable development. Blending ADB’s financial resources with GEF grant resources provides substantial opportunities for enhancing local and global environmental benefits of projects, through testing of innovations, scaling up investments, mainstreaming environmentally sustainable approaches, policy reforms and capacity development.

GEF's investments are focused on these critical areas:

Five GEF Focal Areas

• Biodiversity
• Climate change (mitigation and adaptation)
• International waters
• Chemicals management
• Land degradation

Three GEF Impact Programs

• Food, land use and restoration
• Sustainable cities
• Sustainable forest management (SFM focus on Amazon and Congo forest biomes)

ADB-GEF projects and programs

By blending ADB's financial resources for sustainable development with GEF grant resources for the global environment, the ADB-GEF partnership provides substantial opportunities for inclusive economic growth with local and global environmental benefits. This is achieved through support for enabling activities, testing of innovations, and investments to scale-up and mainstream environmentally sustainable approaches, technologies and infrastructure.

Examples of innovative and transformational ADB-GEF programs, include the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security, the Heart of Borneo Initiative, the People’s Republic of China-GEF Partnership on Land Degradation in Dryland Areas, and the Pilot Asia-Pacific Climate Technology Network and Finance Center, Plastic Initiatives. Other potential areas for ADB and GEF cooperation include:

• Sustainable infrastructure - Scaling up integrated approaches for cities, urban transport, and air quality management
• Livable cities - Demonstrating economically competitive, environmentally sustainable, and socially inclusive urban development
• Climate change adaptation - Developing comprehensive approaches to climate-proof vulnerable infrastructure and the rollout of ecosystem-based adaptation
• Clean energy - Meeting energy security needs, facilitating a transition to a low carbon economy, and providing universal access to energy
• Natural capital management - Developing programs for the rehabilitation of degraded landscapes, freshwater, and coastal areas to protect biodiversity and improve water and food security
• Regional cooperation and integration - Addressing cross-border social, economic, and environmental issues, under large, multi-country programs

For more information on GEF please visit ADB-GEF Quick Guide.