VIENNA – The Global Environment Facility’s (GEF) 59th Council Meeting, chaired for the first time by the newly appointed CEO, Carlos Manuel Rodriguez, has approved proposals for over US$21m of funding submitted by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). The proposals will be developed into fully-fledged projects to support five UNIDO Member States with their transformational shift towards more sustainable development pathways.

One project will promote cleantech innovations for climate action in Senegal, while another aims to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector by addressing barriers to the adoption and scale-up of electric mobility in Thailand. In Ethiopia, UNIDO and the GEF will support the promotion of the circular economy in the textile and garment sector through the sustainable management of chemicals and waste.

In Paraguay, UNIDO and the GEF will support the transformation of the linear solid waste management sector into an environmentally sound and sustainable model using circular economy techniques. A project in Sierra Leone will transform the market for adaptation solutions by supporting micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) with technological and business model innovations across agriculture-water-energy sectors.

During the meeting, the GEF Council approved a US$409.2m Work Programme comprising 60 projects and two programmes in various focal areas.

The Council also endorsed a new Private Sector Engagement Strategy outlining how the GEF will work in a structured way with industry groups, companies, and investors. The strategy identifies engaging with multi-stakeholder platforms as a core element, recognizing their potential in driving systematic transformation. As the specialized UN entity mandated to promote inclusive and sustainable industrial development, UNIDO has the knowledge and technical experience to successfully support the implementation of such frameworks and has therefore been actively participating in the development of the strategy over the last year.

The 59th GEF Council Meeting laid the foundation for an ambitious GEF-8 replenishment strategy, focused on helping counties to “build back better”, smarter and greener in response to the pandemic.

The GEF was established on the eve of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit to help tackle the planet’s most pressing environmental problems. Since then, the GEF has provided more than US$21.1bn in grants and mobilized an additional US$114bn in co-financing for more than 5,000 projects in 170 countries.

For more information, contact:

Juergen Hierold,

Chief and GEF Coordinator, UNIDO Partnerships Coordination Division

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