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The Global Environment Facility Council approved in December 2024 an exciting sustainable tourism initiative that will be led by the UN Development Programme (UNDP). The ultimate goal of the iCOAST (Integrated Collaborative Approaches to Sustainable Tourism) program is to reduce pollution of water, soil, and air; reduce emissions of greenhouse gasses; reduce the over-consumption of natural resources, products, and materials; and reverse the tourism sector’s impact on biodiversity loss, while creating equitable livelihoods and jobs for local communities.

Fifteen countries from across the Global South have united in the fight for a cleaner environment, with the approval of the largest global investment in tackling plastic pollution to date. With funding from the Global Environment Facility, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, India, Jordan, Laos, Morocco, Nigeria, Peru, Philippines, South Africa, and Senegal will collaborate to transition towards a circular economy for plastics under the $107 million program targeting single-use plastic packaging in the food and beverage industry.

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: