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Naoko Ishii, chief executive
officer and chairperson, Global
Environment Facility
We are switching our focus to address

the underlying drivers of environmental

degradation – rather than merely its effects

long term strategy, which we are now implementing. We biodiversity loss. This in turn will meet the goals of multiple
are switching the focus of our operations to address the conventions and deliver more global environmental benefits,
underlying negative drivers of environmental degradation with greater impacts.
– rather than merely its effects – and to support innovative
and scalable activities that cost-effectively deliver the We all want to live on a healthy planet, and enjoy the
highest impacts. beauty of nature. The world is responding to the threats
we face, but not fast enough. With the Sustainable
We have a golden opportunity ahead of us. We are Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement,
currently in the middle of discussions on the seventh the world’s nations have provided momentum and
replenishment of the Facility’s Trust Fund. Participants will direction that must be seized. And multi-stakeholder
assess what works and what does not, and what strategy sustainability platforms have proliferated, reflecting a
we should embrace at this critical moment. It’s a chance to growing recognition from business of both the risks and
raise our own ambition. the economic opportunities that exist.

The emerging overall programming architecture of the But, important as this all is, it is only a start. Much more is
Trust Fund is aimed at advancing the 2020 vision by needed, and it must happen fast: we are at a tipping point,
addressing the drivers of environmental degradation and for good or ill, for the world’s environment and prosperity.
contributing to systems change in key areas that impact
our mission. The replenishment of the Trust Fund should be more about
looking forward than back. And, grave though the current
It is increasingly evident that it is simply not possible to threats may be, future development in harmony with the
address a particular environmental issue in isolation, as if it planet is within our grasp.
inhabited its own silo. Instead we need to address complex
challenges in an integrated manner. We need to act swiftly, and at scale, to realize it – and that is
just what the Facility intends to do.
Some of the Facility’s recent activities have provided clear
evidence of the need to go deeper into the fundamental www.thegef.org
causes of environmental degradation. If we are to protect
biodiversity, for instance, we should invest not only in This article was originally published in the
protected areas but also make integrated investments in UN Environment “Our Planet” magazine in
reforming land use and food systems, the major drivers of September 2017

www.rtcc.org