Panama will be present at the Seventh Assembly of the Global Environmental Program (GEF), which will bring together environmental leaders from 185 countries in Vancouver, Canada, from August 22 to 26, 2023.

This assembly will have the participation of the Deputy Minister of Environment Diana Laguna, in addition to ministers, government officials, business leaders, environmentalists, international agencies and environmental conventions along with representatives of youth groups, civil society and indigenous peoples to discuss solutions to ensure a healthy planet with healthy people.

The GEF Assembly, which meets every 4 years, is the global body that coordinates the financing of international efforts to address climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution and pressures on the health of the Earth and the oceans.

This meeting comes at a time of important diplomatic momentum, with the conclusion of the historic agreement on the Global Biodiversity Framework reached at the United Nations Conference on Biological Diversity (COP15) and the adoption of the High Seas Treaty in New York, in March 2023.

This momentum will continue in the GEF Assembly, where an important result will be the launch of the new Global Framework for Biological Diversity Fund, a much-needed source of funding for the protection of endangered species and their ecosystems. The creation of the fund could open new avenues for the support of the private sector and philanthropy for nature.

Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, general director and president of the Global Environment Facility, emphasizes that “this meeting of member governments and several GEF partners gives us a unique opportunity to take advantage of recent advances, including the long-awaited agreements on biodiversity and the high seas, and ensure that we address the pressing environmental challenges we face in an inclusive and integrated way.”

During the last term or cooperation cycle of the GEF, Panama received the sum of 12 million balboas, which allowed projects such as the Small Donations Program that is promoted with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).