Greenhouse gas emissions and climate change caused by human activities are a key global problem, which requires large-scale action. These actions include reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to climate change (including variability) through investment. The early effects of climate change have already appeared, and scientists believe that further effects are inevitable. The poorest people in developing countries will bear disproportionately many of the most serious negative impacts caused by climate change.
Achieve the goals of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
In terms of climate change, GEF projects help developing countries and countries with economies in transition to contribute to the ultimate goal of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which is to "[…] stabilize the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at a level that prevents dangerous human interference with the climate system. This level should be achieved within a time frame sufficient to enable the ecosystem to naturally adapt to climate change, ensure that food production is not threatened and make economic development sustainable. " (Excerpted from Article 2 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change).
Projects supported by the Global Environment Facility include:
Mitigating climate change: reducing or avoiding greenhouse gas emissions in the following areas: renewable energy; Energy efficiency; Sustainable transportation; Land use, land use change and forestry management.
Adaptation to climate change: Its purpose is to enable developing countries to adapt to climate change by promoting rapid and long-term adaptation measures in development policies, plans, projects and actions.
As the financial mechanism of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Global Environment Facility allocates and pays hundreds of millions of dollars each year for projects in the following areas: energy efficiency, renewable energy, sustainable urban transportation and land use, land use change and sustainable forestry management. The GEF also manages two separate funds, focusing on adaptation under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change-the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) and the Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF), which are dedicated to raising funds for adaptation-related activities, and the latter is also applicable to technology transfer.
GEF helps developing countries to carry out "win-win" projects, which can not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but also create benefits for local economies and their environmental conditions. The Global Environment Facility (GEF) plans to transform the energy market in developing countries in the long run by promoting more effective market operation and transforming existing carbon-intensive technologies.