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Botswana’s Chobe National Park is more than a natural treasure—it’s a powerful engine for inclusive socioeconomic growth. Home to the world’s largest African elephant population and endangered species like the African wild dog. Chobe, being part of the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA) – the largest land-based transboundary conservation area in the world – is among ecosystems that are vital to biodiversity, tourism, and regional stability.

The role of cities in addressing environmental challenges is both critical and transformative. By 2050, 75 percent of the global population is expected to live in urban areas, creating immense pressures on resources, infrastructure, and ecosystems. Amid these challenges, the UrbanShift initiative, funded by the Global Environment Facility, links and amplifies the efforts of complementary global programs using an integrated approach to create the sustainable, low-carbon, and nature-positive cities that we need.

The Amazon covers about 40 percent of Colombia and holds over 60 percent of its natural forests. As one of the world’s major biodiversity reservoirs, the Colombian Amazon plays critical roles in regulating the hydrological cycle, capturing carbon, maintaining regional ecological connectivity, and supporting more than 300 Indigenous and rural communities. Yet, the region is experiencing rapid deforestation, with 113,000 hectares lost in 2021 alone.

“Complete madness!” I heard that phrase a lot when I first broached the idea of swimming around Martha’s Vineyard, off Cape Cod, Massachusetts, the new great white shark capital of the world. My response? Madness is what we're currently doing to sharks. Sharks are a powerful signifier of just how out-of-balance our relationship with our ocean has become. And right now, sharks are in deep trouble. 

It’s not every day you witness a shift, from passive listening to active design thinking, from questions to confidence. That’s exactly what happened during the GEF Expanded Constituency Workshop (ECW) for Central Africa, held in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, in April 2025. ECWs are regional platforms that bring together GEF focal points, civil society, agencies, and other partners to share experiences, build capacity, and strengthen country engagement with GEF policies and programming.

Peatlands play a vital role for biodiversity, water supplies, and the overall well-being of communities living near and around them. Across Southeast Asia, protecting these wetland ecosystems has emerged as an important priority amid growing risks from fires, haze pollution, agricultural expansion, and forest clearing across the region. 

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. 

As world leaders, CEOs and champions from civil society gather in Azerbaijan for COP29 this month, one issue stands above all others: How the world is going to foot the bill for the increasingly urgent global transition to net zero greenhouse gas emissions and a more climate-resilient future.

Good news for the planet and its primary forests: the Global Environment Facility has engaged world-class scientists and experts on mobilizing cutting-edge tools and practices to protect tropical primary forests. The initiative was introduced during a workshop on “Advancing the Integrated Approach for Transformative Change in Tropical Forest Biomes,” held in Panama’s Gamboa Rainforest Reserve from October 7 to 10.

Throughout the 16th Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP16) in Cali, Colombia, there was focused attention on gender-responsive and inclusive biodiversity action. This was more than talk. Representatives of governments and civil society were specific about their challenges and asks, and they also offered concrete recommendations about how to move forward the “gender target” adopted two years prior at COP15 in Montreal.