As the world is preparing to take stock of progress made to end pollution at the Seventh Assembly of the Global Environment Facility, we are reminded of the critical role we have in promoting environmental health and healthy living.
VANCOUVER – The Global Environment Facility has selected 23 civil society organizations as winners of its Inclusive GEF Assembly Challenge Program, a novel initiative reflecting a commitment to support and elevate community-driven climate and nature projects and the unique contributions of Indigenous Peoples, women, girls, and young people across the GEF partnership.
The Philippines, an archipelago of numerous islands and many ethnolinguistic groups, is a tapestry of cultural diversity and unique ecosystems. The country harbors 20 percent of known plant and animal species, making it critically important to global environmental benefits. Yet, between the 1930s and 1999, timber harvesting put this precious diversity at risk. The drop in forest cover from 70 percent to 18 percent destroyed many of the resources that Indigenous Peoples (IPs) rely upon.
They journeyed from 11 countries on five continents. From as far as South Africa and as close as the United States: hundreds of firefighters working to dousing the wildfires that have done unparalleled damage to Canadian forests this year and sent plumes of thick smoke across North America.
