Small Grants Program: Eighth Phase (SGP 2.0)

GEF Small Grants Programme 2.0 Implementation Arrangements for GEF-8, GEF/C.63/06/Rev.01, 25 November 2022GEF Small Grants Programme (SGP) 2.0: Position Paper on Implementation Arrangements for GEF-8, GEF/C.62/Inf.16, 1 June 2022Summary of Negotiations of the 8th Replenishment of the GEF Trust Fund, GEF/C.62/03, 15 June 2022The overall objective of the SGP 2.0 in GEF-8 is to: Catalyze and mobilize civil society actors and local actions needed to address major drivers of environmental degradation and help deliver multiple benefits across the GEF's mandated thematic dimensions, while promoting sustainable development and improved livelihoods.

• Further strengthen its alignment with the GEF-8 strategy and focal area priorities;
• Support delivery of the Integrated Programs proposed for GEF-8;
• Enhance its already important role in supporting and delivering on MEA and SDG commitments; and
• Extend SGP implementation roles to other GEF Agencies and explore new partnerships.

GEF-8 five strategic initiatives:

• Community-based management of threatened ecosystems and species: engaging and supporting local CSOs and CBOs in the management of protected areas and corridors, forest landscapes, integrated river-basins, and large marine ecosystems, as well as mainstreaming biodiversity in key production sectors. Support to territories and areas conserved by indigenous peoples and local communities and to CSOs and CBOs in the management and co-management of other private and public protected areas.
• Sustainable agriculture and fisheries, and food security: community-driven initiatives across production landscapes/seascapes to enhance the sustainability and productivity of priority socio-ecological systems, with a focus on food staples and commodities, livestock, and aquaculture. Application of agroecological, regenerative, and biodiversity friendly principles and practices based on traditional knowledge and agronomic/agro-ecological science. Community-based efforts to achieve national and local voluntary Land Degradation Neutrality targets.
• Low-Carbon Energy Access and Co-Benefits: affordable clean energy in remote areas and vulnerable communities, low carbon transformation by de-risking private sector investment and supporting innovation and adoption of cutting-edge technologies relevant to the community context, including energy access for health services and digital technologies.
• Local to Global Coalitions for Chemicals and Waste Management: actions to benefit local communities in rural and urban areas enduring threats from chemicals and waste, either as users or consumers, through innovative, affordable and practical solutions to chemical and waste management, including plastics and e-waste management, supported by existing multi-stakeholder platforms and partners
• Catalyzing Sustainable Urban Solutions: pilot activities to target vulnerable people and communities in the urban context, promoting an integrated management approach through public-private partnerships. Low-emission and resilient urban development such as waste and chemical management, energy, transport, watershed protection in rural hinterlands through compensatory ecosystem services arrangements, restoration corridors, and biodiversity conservation.

GEF/E/C.60/01 Joint Evaluation of the GEF Small Grants Programme (2021)