As one of GEF’s earliest and largest partners, Brazil offers an important lens for assessing performance at scale.

It was selected for a country portfolio evaluation because of its early involvement in the GEF, large and diverse portfolio, and participation in numerous regional and global projects. Drawing on project document reviews, field visits, and stakeholder interviews, the study finds that GEF support built institutional capacity, produced widely used technical references, and aligned closely with Brazil’s biodiversity and climate change priorities.

Projects also advanced regional cooperation on international waters, though engagement in South-South cooperation was limited. Co-financing levels were satisfactory, project monitoring and evaluation was generally above average, and approval times were shorter than global averages, but GEF agencies often worked in isolation and biodiversity projects lacked adequate biodiversity indicators during implementation. Private sector engagement was strongest in climate change and weaker elsewhere, while multifocal projects faced heavier monitoring burdens.

The report recommends that new financing sources and greater emphasis on technology development and market transformation should be pursued in Brazil to increase long-term environmental benefits.