GEF projects aim to deliver global environmental benefits, but their long-term impact also depends on whether they generate meaningful socioeconomic co-benefits.
These include improved livelihoods, stronger institutions, and more inclusive governance, which can anchor environmental outcomes in local priorities and sustain results. This evaluation addresses a critical gap by examining how co-benefits emerge, when they endure, and what limits their potential.
Socioeconomic co-benefits are increasingly recognized as essential to the GEF’s mandate, because they help bridge global environmental objectives with local development needs.
Evaluation overview
- Many projects lack clear pathways for co-benefits, overlook potential short-term trade-offs, and under-report results due to weak monitoring and short implementation cycles.
- Successful cases align with community initiatives, build on local institutions, and link environmental goals with tangible benefits; outcomes also improve where projects adapt midway or recover from weak starts.
- The evaluation recommends defining co-benefit pathways and risks in design, strengthening country-level portfolio coordination, and systematically tracking and reporting co-benefits.
Methodology
The study reviews GEF-4 through GEF-7 projects across 27 countries, using portfolio analysis, geospatial methods, case studies in Chad, Mexico, and Nepal, and extensive stakeholder interviews.
This report was presented during: GEF Council Meeting 69
