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Rapid growth, a warming climate and over-consumption of resources means that today we are at a crucial moment for the future of our planet and time is running out. Business as usual is not an option. That was one of the GEF key messages to delegates convening for the 5th Assembly held in Cancun earlier this year.
“We have a very important year and a half ahead of us. This is the last chance to reach a climate agreement,” warned Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute. “If we miss Paris 2015, we have no practical hope of keeping warming below 2C.”
Since the turn of the millennium, the world has paid testament to some of the most rapid economic progress ever witnessed. A commodities boom opened up new economies and leveraged such extreme social gains that a world free from poverty is now within sight. However, such growth outstripped the boundaries of our environmental resources. Sustainability and green growth now need to define the development agenda post-2015.
“Economic growth has been accompanied by worrying trends,” highlighted Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and IPCC Chairperson, Rajendra Pachauri. “In 2010, 49 gigatons of CO2e were emitted, 10 more gigatons than in 2000. If we continue on this path, we need to be concerned about serious impacts.”
Combined and global action is needed to realize real and lasting change, and the most powerful countries and corporations must also come to the table.
“It is no longer acceptable that the world is held to ransom because of a few,” Sachs stated. “The most powerful industries and economies have to be brought to account. They need to play by rules that are safe for the planet.”
“We need to reject the idea that there is a trade-off between prosperity and environmental sustainability. We already have the technology and knowledge, what is lacking is political will,” said Homi Kharas, Deputy Director for the Global Economy and Development Program.
That was the challenge raised to the 5th GEF Assembly in Cancun last May. Over 2 days, political leaders from over 140 countries met with environmental experts to discuss solutions to the major environmental challenges, which threaten our planet’s very survival.
A green revolution
Following a record replenishment of US$4.4bn, the GEF enjoys the confidence of the international community to implement innovative and effective programs promoting biodiversity conservation and sustainable development. Consequently, the organization has a powerful role as catalyst to bring about climate solutions and securing a more sustainable future.
“There is a revolution underway and the GEF is part of it,” emphasized Andrew Steer, President of the World Resources Institute. “These are extraordinarily urgent times.”
Here is where the new GEF Strategy 2020 will play a key role.
“GEF2020 emphasizes the need for us to find ways to support transformational change and achieve impacts at scale. It calls for the GEF to seek to focus as much as possible on the drivers of environmental degradation; it speaks to the importance of GEF supporting broad coalitions of committed stakeholders; and of GEF supporting innovative and scalable activities,” says Naoko Ishii, GEF CEO and Chairperson in her message about the strategy endorsed last Mayat the 46th Council Meeting.