December 19, 2025
ARLINGTON, Va. (December 19, 2025) – Today, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Council approved a new cycle of funding, granting Conservation International USD $23.3 million that will support four new biodiversity and marine conservation partnerships around the globe.
Announced during the GEF’s 70th Council Meeting, the $23M in funding is part of a total USD $372M from the GEF that will be distributed across its 18 partner agencies to advance biodiversity conservation and slow climate change while supporting Indigenous peoples and local communities. Conservation International’s newly funded efforts will seek to increase transparency and sustainability of the blue economy in the Pacific, and scale national monitoring systems that combat Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing.
“Conservation International has been proud to serve as a GEF Agency for more than a decade, and as we head into GEF-9, our commitment to this partnership, and to the communities we work with around the world, has never been stronger,” said Orissa Samaroo, Vice President of the GEF Agency at Conservation International. “The approval of these new projects reflects exactly the kind of conservation collaboration that is so pivotal right now. This work will center on equipping our partners with the tools and opportunities they deserve as we work together towards the global goals for 2030 and beyond.”
Conservation International will receive:
- $18 million for the Unlocking Blue Pacific Prosperity (UBPP) effort in the Asia Pacific region
- Through the Ocean Flagship and working with The Pacific Community (SPC) and the Office of the Pacific Ocean Commissioner (OPOC), this funding aims to strengthen collaboration and scale ocean conservation across the Pacific.
- Funding will support partnerships in Fiji, Vanuatu, Tuvalu, Tonga, Niue, Cook Islands, Palau, Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Solomon Islands and Samoa.
- $5.3 million for the Accelerating Electronic Monitoring in Tuna Fisheries for Strengthening Transparency and Addressing Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing (EM4IUU) project
- IUU fishing accounts for almost a fifth of seafood caught globally, representing an annual economic loss of $10–50 billion and undermining food security and marine biodiversity.
- With The Nature Conservancy, this GBFF effort across the high seas will work to increase fishing vessel transparency by expanding and strengthening electronic monitoring across tuna fisheries.
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About Conservation International: Conservation International protects nature for the benefit of humanity. Through science, policy, fieldwork and finance, we spotlight and secure the most important places in nature for the climate, for biodiversity and for people. With offices in 30 countries and projects in more than 100 countries, Conservation International partners with governments, companies, civil society, Indigenous peoples and local communities to help people and nature thrive together. Go to Conservation.org for more, and follow our work on Conservation News, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Instagram and YouTube.
About the Global Environment Facility: The Global Environment Facility (GEF) is the world’s largest multilateral fund for the environment. Its family of funds work together to address the planet's most pressing challenges in an integrated way. Its financing helps developing countries address complex challenges and work towards meeting international environmental goals. Over the past three decades, the GEF has provided more than $26 billion in financing, primarily as grants, and mobilized another $153 billion for country-driven priority projects.