The Meals and Agriculture Group of the United Nations (FAO) has helped 22 nations unlock $68 million in financing from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to handle biodiversity loss, groundwater administration, local weather change, land degradation, and air pollution.
The tasks had been permitted by the GEF Secretariat and Councils for the GEF Trust Fund, the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF), and the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF) assembly this week in Washington D.C. The tasks anticipate to leverage a further $273 million in co-financing to advance international objectives for biodiversity, social inclusion, land and water administration, and lowering use of hazardous chemical substances.
“The approval of this batch of tasks comes on the finish of a 12 months of environmental summits that highlighted each the necessity for finance to unlock transformation of worldwide agrifood methods to this important agenda,” stated QU Dongyu, FAO Director-Basic. “We stay up for supporting nations to satisfy their biodiversity, local weather, land, water, and air pollution objectives by agrifood methods options underneath the general steering of the Four Betters.”
“These tasks will assist change the way in which we produce our meals, gasoline, and fiber to handle international environmental crises. They’ll improve coherence between agricultural and environmental sectors and help nations and communities to sort out environmental challenges, meals insecurity, and poverty. With this new financing in place, it’s now equally essential to their success to successfully talk their objectives and impacts,” stated Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, CEO and Chairperson, GEF.
Small Grants Program
As a part of the funding, the Council permitted a $19 million allocation for FAO’s first actions as a brand new implementing company for the Small Grants Program. The undertaking builds upon 30 years of influence by bringing FAO’s experience in working with smallholder producers to help civil society organizations and community-based organizations in co-designing and delivering regionally led initiatives. The undertaking will develop methods, present monetary and technical help, and foster South-South Cooperation, with a powerful deal with innovation, scalability, and social inclusion of ladies, Indigenous Peoples and youth.
The undertaking will work with native organizations throughout 14 nations: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Chile, Prepare dinner Islands, Cuba, Guyana, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya, Marshall Islands, Nicaragua, South Sudan, Tajikistan, Uganda and Venezuela. It goals to revive 20,000 hectares of land, enhance practices throughout 350,000 hectares, and profit 45,000 individuals.
Biodiversity
5 tasks funded by the GBFF will assist mainstream biodiversity in agrifood sectors, foster sustainable livelihoods, and empower Indigenous Peoples. These tasks intention to enhance the administration of 500,000 hectares of protected areas, restore 13,000 hectares of landscapes, enhance practices on 2.4 million hectares of land and sea, mitigate 1.2 million metric tons of greenhouse fuel emissions, and profit 100,000 individuals.
The $1.7 million undertaking in Laos will improve biodiversity by ecosystem restoration and biodiversity-friendly One Health practices. The $6.4 million undertaking in Papua New Guinea will enhance ecosystem connectivity and local weather resilience with built-in panorama administration. Within the Solomon Islands, $2.4 million will help community-led administration of key biodiversity areas by Indigenous Peoples, together with by spatial administration and different efficient area-based conservation mechanisms (OECM). In Cuba, the $3 million undertaking will tackle unsustainable fishing and agriculture in Northeastern Cuba, and the $1.3 million undertaking in Nepal will assist preserve endangered freshwater fish by ecosystem-based fisheries administration.
A $8 million undertaking funded by the GEF Belief Fund will improve biodiversity, ecosystem service, and carbon sequestration in Areas Important for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (AIBDES), together with areas inside and outdoors protected areas in South Sumatra and Central Java, Indonesia. The undertaking goals to preserve and restore 91,000 hectares of pure ecosystems that home species such because the Javan Leopard and Sumatran Elephant. The undertaking may even enhance practices on 565,000 hectares of land, mitigate 6.2 million metric tons of greenhouse fuel emissions, and profit 40,000 individuals.
Land and Water
A regional undertaking in Kenya and Tanzania will improve water safety and enhance climate-resilience within the Mount Kilimanjaro area by bettering the administration of the shared Kilimanjaro Transboundary Aquifer System. With $7.8 million in GEF financing, this initiative will preserve 40,000 hectares of cloud forest, guarantee sustainable groundwater use, and profit 100,000 individuals.
A $5.1 million undertaking will assist obtain Liberia’s Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) commitments by enhancing soil well being and lowering land degradation by sustainable administration practices in focused rice landscapes. The undertaking will restore 25,000 hectares of land, implement sustainable land administration practices throughout 100,000 hectares, mitigate over a million metric tons of greenhouse fuel emissions, and profit over 60,000 individuals.
Chemical substances
Beneath the Built-in Collaborative Approaches for Sustainable Tourism Program (iCOAST), FAO will help Vanuatu in selling sustainable practices throughout the tourism business by bioeconomy and round approaches. The undertaking will channel $4 million to replace the nationwide tourism technique, restore over 32,000 hectares of degraded ecosystems, enhance practices on 62,000 hectares of land and sea, and profit over 246,000 individuals.
Beneath the Financing Agrochemical Discount and Administration Plus Program (FARM+), FAO will help Gambia to scale back dangerous agrochemical use and transition to climate-resilient, agroecological practices in rice, millet and maize manufacturing. With $9.6 million from the GEF Belief Fund and the LDCF, the undertaking goals to revive 10,000 hectares of land, enhance practices on 120,000 hectares of land and sea, mitigate over 15,000 metric tons of greenhouse fuel emissions, and profit 240,000 individuals.
New heights in 2024
This system closes a 12 months of file progress within the FAO-GEF partnership. Along with $440 million permitted throughout the February, June and December work packages in 2024, 13 FAO tasks value $14 million in GEF sources and $24 million in co-financing are offering international and nationwide help in assembly reporting commitments for local weather change and LDN.
FAO-GEF Partnership
As a accomplice company for the GEF, FAO helps nations worldwide in addressing the complicated challenges on the nexus between the agrifood methods and the atmosphere. Since 2006, FAO has supported 141 nations in accessing $1.9 billion for tasks that reply to native priorities, ship international environmental advantages, and advance the Sustainable Improvement Objectives (SDGs).
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Meals and Agriculture Group (FAO).
