Summary

GEF Small Grants Programme works with local communities in developing countries, including Nepal, to achieve global environmental benefits by addressing their local needs. The programme provides grants up to US$ 50,000 to civil society organizations or community-based organizations for initiatives geared at conservation of biodiversity, mitigation of climate change, reduction of land degradation, protection of international waters and elimination of hazardous chemicals.

Background

It is the local communities in the developing world that are often the first to feel the effects of environmental degradation and climate change. The realization that they are at the forefront of efforts to prevent and reverse damage to the environment led to the setting up of the Global Environment Facility's Small Grants Programme (GEF-SGP) in 1992. The programme was started following the Rio Earth Summit and has so far given out 14,500 grants to local initiatives to conserve the environment in 125 developing countries.

Since its inception in 1998, GEF-SGP has funded 219 Small grant projects to 159 grantees in 54 districts. Out of 219 projects, 75 are biodiversity projects,  64 are climate change, 56 are land degradation, 5 are chemicals projects and 18 projects are multifocal and Capacity building and information dissemination projects. Likewise SGP had also implemented seven Community Development and Knowledge Management for Satoyama Initiatives (COMDEKS) project for nature conservation at landscape level and four Every Drop Matters projects for water conservation. These projects have all involved local communities in conserving their local natural resources in ways that enhance human well-being and livelihoods and deliver global environmental benefits.

Importance of the project for the SDGs

The Nepal Small Grants Programme primarily contributes to Goal 7: Ensure Access to Affordable, Reliable, Sustainable and Modern Energy to All; Goal 13: Take Urgent Action to Combat Climate Change and its Impacts; and Goal 15: Protect, Restore and Promote Sustainable Use of Terrestrial Ecosystems, Sustainably Manage Forests, Combat Desertification and Halt and Reverse Land Degradation and Biodiversity Loss. But the diverse nature of SGP projects means that it was also able to contribute to other Goals through its multi-faceted interventions, such as Goal 2: End Hunger, Achieve Food Security and Improved Nutrition and Promote Sustainable Agriculture; Goal 5: Achieve Gender Equality and Empower All Women and Girls; and Goal 11: Make Cities and Human Settlements Inclusive, Safe, Resilient and Sustainable.