Under the leadership of its new CEO and Chairperson Carlos Manuel Rodriguez, the Global Environment Facility has renewed its engagement with UN environmental conventions to share strategic priorities and enhance the GEF’s support for major landmark agreements on biodiversity, climate change, chemicals, land use, and more.
The Global Environment Facility’s governing body will focus in its upcoming Council meetings on ways to assist developing countries emerge stronger from the coronavirus pandemic that has underlined how important it is for strains on nature from human activity to be addressed.
Anna Teh is the Philippines’ Deputy Minister of Environment and Natural Resources and her country’s GEF Operational Focal Point. In an interview, she reflected on why the COVID-19 crisis has given her optimism about the world’s ability to confront climate change, and shared how her experience as a teen parent – and now as a grandparent – underlies her commitment to work in conservation.
What are the main environmental issues of importance to the Philippines?
The GEF Small Grants Programme (SGP) is excited to announce the start of its new operational phase - Seventh Operational Phase from 2020 to 2024, with a revamped strategy and renewed financial commitments. The SGP is financed by the Global Environment Facility and other partners and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Sandy Andelman is Vice President for Conservation Strategy and Partnerships at the Wildlife Conservation Society, an NGO working in 65 countries to protect wildlife and wild places through science, conservation action, education, and inspiring people to value nature. In an interview, she reflected on her work as a member of the GEF COVID-19 Task Force and shared how observing small apes sing in an Oregon zoo started her on a path of scientific inquiry that continues to motivate her decades later.
Martha Cuba de Cronkleton is head of international affairs and cooperation at Peru’s Ministry of Environment and serves as her country’s GEF Operational Focal Point. In an interview, she reflected on the ways the Global Environment Facility has helped Peru advance its environmental priorities and build new coalitions for enduring support.
What are Peru’s main environmental priorities?
Peter Lallas is the Global Environment Facility’s Conflict Resolution Commissioner and an advisor to the GEF Director of Strategy and Operations. In an interview, he shared insights from his career path that started on the basketball court, and reflected on the importance of meaningful engagement with people impacted by environmental issues and by international efforts to address them.
You wear many hats at the GEF. What does your work entail?
The International Union for Conservation of Nature, Mirova Natural Capital, and the Global Environment Facility have teamed up to launch the world’s first conservation accelerator fund, an investment vehicle designed to help channel private sector funding into cutting-edge initiatives with the potential to benefit both nature and investors.
Alimata B. Kone is Permanent Secretary of the Côte d’Ivoire GEF National Commission and serves as the country’s GEF Operational Focal Point. In an interview, she reflected on Côte d’Ivoire engagement with the Global Environment Facility as both a donor and a recipient country and shared how her background in economics has been useful in the field of environmental action.
What are the main environmental issues of concern to Côte d’Ivoire?
David Barron is Chairman of the ICCF Group, a foundation that works to advance US leadership in international conservation through public-private partnerships, awareness-raising among policy-makers, and support for tougher policies on conservation and natural resource management. In an interview, he reflected on the power of bipartisan and multi-partisan coalitions to tackle difficult challenges such as how to avoid the next pandemic.
What was your inspiration to establish the ICCF Group?
