Corporate investor

Global Environment Facility (GEF)

Compiled from public sources

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) is a multilateral financial mechanism established in 1992, ahead of the Rio Earth Summit. It provides grants and blended finance to developing countries to address the planet's most pressing environmental challenges, including biodiversity loss, climate change, international waters, land degradation, persistent organic pollutants (POPs), mercury, and sustainable forest management. The GEF operates as a global partnership involving 186 member governments, international institutions (its implementing agencies), civil society organisations, Indigenous Peoples, and the private sector. As a significant LP, the GEF channels financing, primarily as grants, and mobilises substantial co-financing, particularly from the private sector, for country-driven priority projects that aim to deliver global environmental benefits. It increasingly uses blended finance solutions, including non-grant instruments such as debt, equity, and guarantees, to catalyse private sector investment in frontier areas, such as conservation finance and natural resource management.