Building on UNEP’s ten-year track in the emerging field of biosafety, the UNEP-GEF Biosafety Unit has taken a leading role in implementing the GEF Biosafety Strategy through three key activities. All these projects are enabling some 140 developing and transition countries to develop a basic capacity in dealing with biosafety issues. These activities are bringing the Cartagena Protocol to life and yielding important lessons in how to improve biosafety systems everywhere.