Page 28 - Respond 2016 Magazine

development finance

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These drivers of global environmental degradation primarily rise engagement with the private sector, which must be a crucial
from three global megatrends: a growing population, a rapidly partner if transformational change is to be achieved.
rising global middle class resulting in tectonic shift in consumption
and diet patterns; and rapid urbanization which is expected to The GEF must also remain the partner of choice for environmental
add 1 billion new residents to the world’s cities. To “de-couple” benefits. It was established to work in partnership: its role is to
the impact of these megatrends on the global environment we provide financial support – and to help develop and design projects
must fundamentally transform our key economic systems – our – while its partners implement and execute them on the ground. So
energy system, food production system, our cities, and our goods productive and trusting partnerships are vital.
manufacturing system.
Much of that action must now focus on increasing resilience to the
Many negative drivers cause many diverse problems harm done by climate change and other environmental insults and
simultaneously. Unsustainable agriculture, for example, degrades on helping those affected to adapt to them.
the land, fells forests, reduces biodiversity, pollutes rivers and
the oceans, causes chemical contamination from pesticides, and The GEF will help countries incorporate adaptation measures
is responsible for about a quarter of the world’s emissions of into their development programmes. And it is already beginning
greenhouse gases. Everything is connected; if one facet of the to make direct links to helping countries to meet their Intended
global environment is in crisis, it will affect others and ultimately Nationally Determined Contributions as part of the Paris climate
lead to disruption of the whole planetary system. agreement. Though concerned with global issues, we know that
country ownership is the key to success: after all, action takes place
So it is simply not possible to address a particular environmental at national and local levels.
issue in isolation, as if it inhabited its own silo. Instead we need
to address many challenges at once. We must focus on systemic The aim must be to make the global environment everybody’s
approaches rather than ones that are restricted to single sectors or business. For this is not a matter of safeguarding natural systems
technologies, as we scale up the good results achieved in national alone, important as that may be. It is the best – indeed the only
and regional projects to deliver sustainable effects that are big and –path to prosperity. It is not just about avoiding disaster, but
widespread enough to meet the challenges we face. providing much greater and better-shared growth.
Recognising this, international organizations, business, and civil As the only mechanism that insists that projects generate global
society have started to rally around a new movement to safeguard – and not just local and national – benefits, the GEF is, and will
the global commons. At the International Dialogue on Our Global remain, a champion of the global commons. It will continue to
Commons hosted by the GEF and the International Union for the insist that there can be no separation between development and
Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in Washington DC in October, there environment, that safeguarding these commons is, quite simply,
was a strong sentiment that they were taking this action at a critical the wisest investment we can make.
juncture for the future of the planet.
Anniversaries should be more about looking forward than back.
It’s increasingly clear to me that business as usual is a guarantee of And, grave though the threats may be, a poverty-free future in
disaster. We need a course correction. We must take ourselves out harmony with the planet is within our grasp. We need to act swiftly,
of our comfort zones to bring about disruptive transformation. and at scale, to realize it – and that is just what the GEF intends to do.
The GEF will continue to be a catalyst both in enabling action and in
mobilizing resources. All this is particularly important in increasing

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