Oldest climate fund targets wildlife bonds

The world’s oldest multilateral climate fund, the Global Environment Facility (GEF), is planning a new wave of wildlife conservation bonds in a bid to help African countries save endangered species and ecosystems.

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Wildlife bonds, which provide low cost funding in return for cutting poaching or other measures, were pioneered in 2022 with a World Bank-backed rhino bond and have seen a number of other examples since.

There was an issue targeting chimpanzee protection in Rwanda last year, and last month the GEF approved one for lemur conservation in Madagascar.

Fred Boltz, head of programming at GEF, which is linked to the World Bank, told Reuters on the sidelines of a meeting of African environment ministers that it aims to do one for every one of the 54 countries in Africa.