World Environment Day message from the GCF Executive Director: Nature-based solutions for resilient recovery

On the occasion of World Environment Day 2020, Yannick Glemarec, Executive Director of the Green Climate Fund, highlights the connections between human and environmental health and wellbeing.

Watch his video message in French, Spanish or English (below).

Protecting ecosystems is essential to the work of the Green Climate Fund (GCF). Among other benefits, well-functioning ecosystems sequester carbon emissions, enhance resilience to extreme weather events, increase food security, inhibit release of new diseases and generate employment.

Ecosystem restoration is important for maintaining climate ambition and safeguarding vulnerable livelihoods in the context of Covid-19. The pandemic is a reminder of the humanitarian and economic devastation unleashed if we don’t protect biodiversity. That’s why GCF invests in nature-based climate solutions like the preservation of La Mojana’s wetlands in Colombia.

By supporting ambitious, nature-based solutions, GCF and its partners can also help to foster a green, resilient recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic in developing countries.