There are many small-scale, community-driven initiatives making a huge difference in people's lives and contributing to efforts to curb global warming. In early April, 29 countries pledged more than $5 billion to the UN-backed Global Environment Facility (GEF). The Fund said this was "record support, providing a major boost to international efforts to protect biodiversity and curb threats to climate change, plastics and toxic chemicals." The GEF is a multilateral fund that serves as a financial mechanism for several environmental conventions – including the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. It has its Small Grants Program (SGP) which grants up to $50,000 directly to local communities, including indigenous peoples, community-based organisations and other non-governmental groups investing in projects related to healing the planet. The initiative is implemented in 127 countries by the UN Development Program (UNDP) which provides technical support to selected local projects that conserve and restore the environment while enhancing people's wellbeing and livelihoods. Indigenous women solar engineers bringing light to rural Belize