Claude Gascon, interim CEO of the GEF and Aziz Abduhakimov, Minister of Environment of the Republic of Uzbekistan, at the closing ceremony of the Eighth GEF Assembly in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Gascon was presented with a traditional Uzbek outfit. Credit: Stella Paul/IPSBy Cecilia RussellSAMARKAND, Uzbekistan, Jun 5 2026 (IPS) “While pressures on public budgets are growing and geopolitical tensions rising, it can be tempting to see environmental f…