U.S. pledges $600 million to combat global environmental threats

…Announces 20th edition of international Anti-Corruption Conference
United States has pledged $600.8 million over the next four years to support the eighth replenishment of the Global Environment Facility (GEF-8).

This pledge, U.S. largest GEF ever, aligns with continuing the country’s priorities and supports the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to addressing climate change, conserving global carbon sinks and other critical ecosystems, and restoring the health of our ocean.

U.S. joined 28 other donors in collectively pledging more than $5 billion to support GEF-8, a nearly 30 percent increase over GEF-7.

The pledge will help protect tropical rainforests and other critical carbon sinks; address ocean plastics pollution; combat wildlife trafficking and illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing; and reduce hazardous transboundary pollutants such as PCBs and mercury that can affect Americans’ health.

In its Fiscal Year 2023 Budget, the Administration has requested $150.2 million for the GEF, as the first of four planned installments for the U.S. contribution to GEF-8.

The GEF is one of the world’s largest dedicated funders of projects and programmes to improve the global environment. It is the world’s primary multilateral source of biodiversity finance and is the only multilateral environmental fund whose mandate is to achieve global environmental benefits across a diverse set of focal areas that also includes chemicals and waste, climate change mitigation, land degradation (including desertification and deforestation), and international waters.

The United States supported the establishment of the GEF in 1991 and has contributed to all seven replenishments. Since its launch in 1991, the GEF has provided nearly $22 billion in grants and mobilised another $119 billion in co-financing to safeguard the global environment.

The GEF Partnership spans 184 member governments, 18 implementing agencies, more than 500 civil society organisations, international bodies and funds, and businesses from every major sector.

Meanwhile the U.S. Government, coordinated by the Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), is partnering with Transparency International (TI) to support the 20th edition of the International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC) to be held in Washington, DC, December 6-10, 2022, with the theme, “Uprooting Corruption: Defending Democratic Values.”

Responding to corruption which is a transnational threat, President Biden established fighting corruption as a core U.S. national security interest, releasing the first-ever U.S. Strategy on Countering Corruption, and elevating the fight against corruption as a pillar of the Summit for Democracy. His Administration is expanding and leveraging diplomatic and foreign assistance tools to advance these efforts.

The U.S. Government’s partnerships with international organisations, governments, civil society, and the private sector have been critical to anti-corruption efforts around the world. Through the IACC, the U.S. Government and TI will bring together over 10,000 people from 180 countries to continue building momentum for landmark anti-corruption initiatives.