Australia’s commitment to tackle environmental challenges in the region

The Australian Government will commit $93 million over four years to support developing countries tackle environmental challenges.

The funding is Australia's contribution to the sixth replenishment period (2014-18) of the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

The GEF is a highly effective multilateral organisation. Over the last four years, it has invested around one quarter of its $4.3 billion budget in the Indo-Pacific region to support sustainable development activities.

The GEF's Ridge to Reef program, for example, in the Pacific works at both national and regional levels to improve the livelihoods of the region's poor. It employs landscape approaches that more effectively manage natural resources as a whole – including land, fresh water, forest, marine and fisheries.

Natural resource depletion and ecosystem degradation can undermine long-term economic growth in developing countries. Poor and vulnerable people, particularly in the Indo-Pacific region, are disproportionately affected by environmental and resource degradation.

The Global Environment Facility environmental projects can have a lasting impact on sustainable economic growth which is critical to raising living standards of poor communities dependent on the natural environment.