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As 2025 gets underway, efforts by cities to reduce congestion, address air pollution, improve housing access, and lower flooding risks are getting more attention than ever. These initiatives matter to more than 4 billion people who live in urban centers worldwide, and also have enormous consequences for the planet and global environmental goals. 

The Government of Sierra Leone, in partnership with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Global Environment Facility, has launched a transformative initiative to enhance climate resilience through innovation and entrepreneurship in water, agriculture, and energy sectors.

This publication provides an overview of initiatives under the GEF Small Grants Programme's (SGP) climate change portfolio which fall under the following thematic areas:

Building on the GEF-6 phase, the Sustainable Cities Impact Program in GEF-7 (2018-2022), under its brand name UrbanShift, advances the integrated approach of urban planning and implementation. The program brings together global, national, and local stakeholders to work towards a common vision of sustainable, low carbon, inclusive, gender sensitive, and resilient development, and is supporting 23 cities in nine countries.

Freetown, located at the seaward tip of a heavily forested, mountainous peninsula, is the capital of Sierra Leone, dominating its urban, economic, and social landscape. Each year, more than 100,000 people in search of employment move to the city, and the urban fringes continue to push deeper into the steep forest expanses outside the city. As a result, an equivalent of 12% of total canopy in the area was lost per year between 2011 and 2018.

As Lead Environmental Specialist at the Global Environment Facility, Mohamed Bakarr oversees programs that support integrated solutions to challenges related to agriculture, forestry, and livelihoods in developing countries. In an interview, he shared how his doctoral research in tropical biology informed his views about the linkages between human and natural systems and why protecting the environment requires work at the intersection of the two. When did you first become interested in environmental issues?

People are already consuming at a rate faster than the planet can replenish. Yet the world’s population is expected to grow from 7 billion to 9 billion by 2050. This will considerably increase demand for energy, transport, buildings and food.