Validated Terminal Review of the UNEP China Trust Fund Project ‘Accelerated Implementation by countries of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) through South-South cooperation in alignment with the Action Initiative for KMGBF’ (SMA ID 232461) 2025 – 2025

This report is a Terminal Review of the UNEP project: China Trust Fund Project: Accelerated Implementation by countries of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) through South-South cooperation in alignment with the Action Initiative for KMGBF’, implemented between April 2025 and December 2025.The project's overall goal was to enhance countries’ capacity to implement the KMGBF through targeted technical and capacity-development support and facilitated knowledge sharing, networking, and South-South cooperation. The review sought to assess project performance (in terms of relevance, effectiveness and efficiency) and determine the sustainability of its results. The review has two primary purposes: accountability and learning. Data collection methods included in-depth interviews and document reviews. Data analysis was based on applying triangulated data to assess performance against a reconstructed Theory of Change and its causal pathways. With an overall performance rating of Satisfactory, the fifth point on a six-point scale, the main findings include: i) successful delivery of the project through the Regional Offices and effective partnerships with the Secretariat of Convention on Biodiversity (SCBD) and cohesive project management despite a demanding timeframe; ii) broad and diverse participation in regional workshops, which emphasized regional priorities and fostered collaboration among stakeholders; iii) enhanced visibility of the KMGBF through the High Level Political Forum 2025 (HLPF); and iv) targeted support provided to Armenia in preparation for the forth coming CBD COP17. The main recommendations to UNEP are: i) streamline the internal procedures to shorten the project design and approval process to maximize time available for implementation; ii) ensure wider dissemination of project outputs; iii) adopt agile and practical governance arrangement for short duration projects; and (iv) establish coordination mechanism to draw on in-house expertise and promote a whole UNEP approach working.