The Small Grants Programme Newsletter

GEF Small Grants Programme Newsletter March 2024

Our Stories

Sustainable cities: how sustainable urban development can work for people and planet

The rapid transformation of the world through urbanization has been a defining feature of the last century. This shift has elevated cities into economic powerhouses that foster innovation, economic development, and social interactions. However, this has come at a cost: often prioritizing immediate economic gains, the fast and unplanned expansion of cities around the world has created a variety of challenges that have a negative impact on both people and the environment, significantly contributing to the intensification of the global climate and biodiversity crises. Sustainable urban solutions developed and led by local communities are more important than ever if we are to make cities more inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable, and SGP is at the forefront of helping them do this.

Water guardians: women’s ancestral knowledge is transforming Andean landscapes from yellow to green

Elsa, Emilia and Cristina live in the Peasant Community of Moquegache Japo, in the highlands of Puno in Peru. Although their stories are different, they have things in common: they are leaders in their communities and share a constant concern about water scarcity in their territories. "The effects of climate change are noticeable in the highlands of Puno, there is an intense drought. We lack drinking water, water for our animals or for irrigating our pastures", says Elsa Mamani, small farmer who due to the lack of rain in the region has not yet been able to start planting quinoa and other grains, risking the food security of her family and community.

Illuminating the future: trained as solar engineers, these women are bringing power and light to their villages in rural Belize

Toledo is Belize’s southernmost and least populated district. In this remote region covered by rainforest rich in biodiversity, most of the population still speaks native Mayan languages. The local economy revolves around subsistence agriculture, and many residents work as farmers. Until a decade ago, Florentina Choco was one of them. Florentina lived in Santa Teresa, a small rural village with no electricity, like many others in Toledo. At night, only the dim lights of candles and homemade kerosene lamps illuminated the households, producing harmful fumes and posing a fire hazard. It was hard for adults to work and for children to study in the dark, and the community had no way of using electronic devices or any kind of electric appliances, like refrigerators to conserve food.

With climate change causing loss and damage around the world, what can be done to protect people, places, and nature?

Climate change has become a harsh reality for people around the world, but it doesn’t affect everyone in the same way: rising sea levels are threatening to wipe out entire Small Island Developing States and displace their populations; intense droughts are turning some farmlands into deserts, while extreme rainfall is flooding others; and devastating storms keep hitting communities before they can recover from the last one. As those least responsible for causing climate change are the ones bearing the brunt of its impacts with the scarcest resources at hand, climate justice is central to any discussion about how to respond. Not enough is being done to protect those already suffering from climate change, nor to stop it from getting worse. This is why there is an urgent need to address loss and damage, which refers to the consequences of climate change that go beyond what people can adapt to or the resources communities have to recover from them.

A natural alliance: in Costa Rica they’re working to keep the alliances flowing, and with them the healthy soils and corridors of life

She is spontaneous; he is reserved. Olivia wants to take advantage of every minute of life to preserve her little piece of land; Jesús imagines himself 30 years from now, able to see how the land he will convey to his daughters has become densely forested. Though their visions are imbued with different personalities, they converge around the importance of preserving the land for the future. With the support from SGP, this family demonstrates how a livestock farm can contribute to healthy soils and environmental sustainability while becoming wildlife corridors supporting both people and wild cats.

SGP launches Annual Monitoring Report 2022-2023

The Small Grants Programme (SGP), a corporate programme of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) that is implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), is launching its Results Report for the reporting year 2022-2023. This report provides an overview on the concrete results achieved on global environmental and socio-economic benefits between the 1st July 2022 and 30th June 2023, including results under the GEF focal areas of biodiversity, climate change mitigation, sustainable land and forest management, international waters, chemicals and waste, and capacity development.

Community-based adaptation in Asia and the Pacific

The climate crisis remains a defining issue of our time that not only has detrimental effects on the environment and the resilience of natural ecosystems, but also ripple effects on every sector of the economy and society, including economic stability, agriculture and food security, water access and sanitation, health and well-being, education, tourism and livelihoods. Poor and vulnerable populations as well as Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States continue to be most at risk and disproportionally affected. With these challenges in mind, in 2022, the GEF Small Grants Programme and the Government of Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) entered into a third phase of partnership focused on supporting communities to adapt to climate impacts in 26 countries across the Asia- Pacific region.

SGP grantees among Inclusive GEF Assembly Challenge Programme winners

Four SGP grantees are among the winners of the Inclusive GEF Assembly Challenge Programme. The aim of the program is to highlight the GEF’s support for community-based climate and nature projects led by Indigenous Peoples, women, and youth. The 23 winners of the Inclusive GEF Assembly Challenge Programme were announced at the GEF Assembly held in late August in Canada, where they had the opportunity to share their experiences in a number of panels and sessions. The winning civil society organizations supported by SGP in Antigua and Barbuda, Madagascar and Tunisia will each receive a grant of up to US$100,000, besides gaining access to networking, training, and knowledge exchange opportunities through the GEF.

Sustainable cities: for people and planet

The rapid transformation of the world through urbanization has been a defining feature of the last century. This shift has elevated cities into economic powerhouses that foster innovation, economic development, and social interactions. However, this has come at a cost: often prioritizing immediate economic gains, the fast and unplanned expansion of cities around the world has created a variety of challenges that have a negative impact on both people and the environment, significantly contributing to the intensification of the global climate and biodiversity crises. This publication showcases examples of SGP projects that have successfully managed to address key urban environmental issues across multiple focal areas, including sustainable transport, urban waste and chemical management, urban green space management, biodiversity conservation, land use planning, climate action, education and advocacy.

Integrated community-based water and land management: Experiences from the Caribbean

The Caribbean Small Islands Developing States grapple with diverse challenges, encompassing high debt, unemployment, marine pollution, climate change, and biodiversity loss. The "Integrating Water, Land and Ecosystems Management in Caribbean Small Island Developing States" (IWEco) project, funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), aims to address these urgent challenges. IWEco focuses on projects across ten Caribbean countries, positively impacting local and national development, aligning with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) such as gender equality, water and sanitation access, economic growth, tree planting, and coastal area management. This publication highlights the achievements and lessons learned from 59 community-based projects implemented by the GEF Small Grants Programme (SGP). The publication emphasizes the significance of local communities and integrated ridge-to-reef programming.

SGP Annual Monitoring Report 2022-2023

This is the infographic version of the GEF Small Grants Programme (SGP) Results Report 2022-2023. SGP provides financial and technical support to civil society and community-based organizations on innovative community-driven initiatives that address global environmental issues – such as biodiversity loss, climate change mitigation and adaptation, land degradation, international waters, and chemicals and waste management – while improving livelihoods. This report presents SGP’s results for the period 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023, based on the information from 127 SGP Country Programmes.

Climate Change - Loss and Damage: An Evolving Challenge

This publication highlights SGP’s three decades of experience in engaging civil society and local communities, including Indigenous Peoples, women, youth, and persons with disabilities, on locally-led climate action, adaptation and resilience. The projects presented demonstrate how financial mechanisms with a community and locally-led action window allow vulnerable communities easy and direct access to international funding and can help effectively address some of the loss and damage linked to climate change.