Page - (000005) - in Evaluating Climate Change Action for Sustainable Development

Foreword In 2015, theworld achieved several crucialmilestones for safeguarding theglobal commons.Most prominently were the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. These agreements clearly recognize that the health of the global commons, like land, forests, oceans, and climate, is vital for our future development prospects – a recognition that was embedded in thevery creationof theGlobalEnvironmentFacility (GEF)25years ago. It is very timely to reflect onwhatwehave achieved,what is still to bedone, and how we can scale up our efforts in helping countries along the way to implementing these agreements. Thanks to all the supportwe received fromdonor countries, partners, andother stakeholders, theGEFwas able to invest overUS$14 billion in grants andmobi- lized overUS$74 billion in additional financing for over 4,000 projects in devel- oping countries. Still, the key drivers of environmental degradation continue to intensifywith agrowing, andmore affluent, global population and rapidurbaniza- tion, driving increased demand for food, fiber andmaterials. The associated pres- sures on forests, land, and oceans are increasingly being exacerbated by climate change, thereby threateningbiodiversityandEarth’s life support systems. Ifweare to succeed at the scale the problem deserves, we need to change key economic systems–howweproduce food;ourcities;howweliveandmovearound;andour energysystem,howwepowerourvehicles, industries,andhomes. Inanutshell,we haveourwork cut out for ourselves as never before. Fortunately, we are not flying in the dark. The GEF stands today on top of a quarter-century of experience dealingwith the global environment and the stew- ardshipof theglobalcommons.Thisbodyofworkoffersa tremendousopportunity to learn – both from our successes and our failures. This is what makes the continuous, uninterrupted evaluation and assessments by GEF’s Independent v