Towards Sustainable Phosphorus Cycles in Lake Catchments (uP-Cycle) To support lake ecosystems recovery through phosphorus emissions reductions from land to water to improve the protection and restoration of freshwater and coastal ecosystems, bringing together the global lake management and sustainable phosphorus management communities including developing and testing a sustainable phosphorus management  framework in Chile to inform international application. Note: Disbursement data provided is cumulative and covers disbursement made by the project Agency. The global environmental problems and global baseline (see Sections 1 and 2) demonstrate that current phosphorus practices are not sustainable and that following the current trajectory will result in widespread environmental and socio-economic issues. Barriers slowing progress towards sustainable phosphorus management across scales include:   - A lack of an internationally relevant phosphorus monitoring and assessment system,   - Poor knowledge exchange limits the effectiveness of phosphorus emissions reduction programs,   - Low awareness of the public and private sectors on the rewards of improving phosphorus sustainability, and the risks of inaction.   - Where they exist, basin-to-national-scale phosphorus emissions reduction policies are fragmented and limited in ambition.  It is important to have a holistic and precautionary approach to phosphorus pollution/waste throughout the value chain (e.g. Net Zero P approach). Countries, cities, and companies need to identify and act upon hotspots, detect leakage of phosphorus in their industries and value chains, and activate the most effective interventions systematically. Such efforts will lead to more sustainable phosphorus management and contribute significantly to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and multiple regional and global calls for improvement in nutrient use efficiency.  By focusing on lakes as the primary loci of environmental impact, the GEF uP-Cycle project will demonstrate how ecosystem recovery can be achieved through phosphorus emissions reductions from land to water. Sustainable phosphorus management will be essential to improve the protection and restoration of freshwater and coastal ecosystems. To deliver on this aim, the project will bring together the global lake management and sustainable phosphorus management communities, developing and testing a sustainable phosphorus management framework in Chile to inform international application.   The project will be delivered through five interlinked components with corresponding activities to deliver the component outputs to reach expected outcomes (see ‘Section 3. The Proposed Alternative Scenario’ for further details).   By achieving these outcomes, the uP-Cycle project will deliver environmental and socio-economic benefits.   Expected environmental institutional benefits  The actions proposed by the project will bring benefits to environmental institutions, including:  - Enhanced institutional capacity to strengthen baseline phosphorus emissions data and identify impacts to support the identification of emissions reduction measures.   - A better understanding and access to tools that can predict ecosystem impacts in response to phosphorus pollution and its mitigation. This information is critical to argue for more stringent standards on phosphorus pollution and to ensure maximum benefits are equitably realized from planned investments. In addition, it will better inform on the nature and extent of ecological and ecosystem service response following costly emissions reduction investments across sectors.   - Improved understanding of nutrient loading from land-based activities to the coasts, to support the objectives of the HC-LME SAP, and a national surveillance and/or nutrient emissions modelling approach is required to inform the need for national-scale nutrient load reduction.   - Reduction of phosphorus emissions at source by identifying and accelerating sector-specific opportunities to reduce direct emissions to existing waste streams and/or to optimize practices to increase phosphorus use efficiency to reduce point and diffuse source emissions.  - Contributions to Net Zero Ambitions by reducing direct greenhouse gas emissions from standing waters related to a reduction in phosphorus-driven algal biomass and through the selection of Nature-Based Solutions that deliver both reductions in phosphorus emissions from land to water as well as greenhouse gas emissions from land to atmosphere.   - Increased regional to global capacity to implement phosphorus recovery and recycling by assessing capacity for Nature-Based Solutions, both in urban and rural settings, to divert, capture and recover phosphorus from points of accumulation in the natural environment, upstream of sensitive ecosystems.   - Increased access to knowledge and tools required to implement effective Lake Ecosystem Resilience Enhancing Measures, ensuring that ecological recovery following emissions reductions is effective, including the creation of refuge habitats for threatened species, the control of legacy phosphorus pollution in lakebed sediments, and the control of other important stressors (e.g., climate change, non-native invasive species, other nutrients and pollutants) which may constrain ecosystem recovery in the long term.   Expected Socio-economic Benefits  The actions proposed by the project will bring socio-economic benefits, including:  - Embracing the Circular Economy – the project will identify opportunities that address losses of phosphorus and other nutrients along the full value chain delivering on wider sustainability ambitions including the reduction of food waste and wastewater discharges.   - Increasing Resilience in Food and Drinking Water Sectors – the project will provide options to reduce reliance on mined (and imported) inorganic phosphorus fertilizers in agriculture and aquaculture (and other end-uses) (e.g. through improved phosphorus use efficiency, loss reduction and increase in phosphorus recycling), within the carrying capacity of the system, whilst reducing drinking water treatment costs associated with the reduction of harmful algal blooms and their toxins.   - Supporting Growth in Eco-Tourism, Business and the Housing Sectors – The project will protect local economic growth by enhancing the value of natural capital to contribute to the creation of vibrant and dynamic water economies working with stakeholders to develop opportunities for businesses or industries for whom clean, safe and biodiverse lakes are a critical resource.   - Empowering communities by fostering Inclusive Sustainability Communities to ensure that all members of society play an active role in the development of future emissions reduction plans, including, Youth and Indigenous Peoples Assemblies.   - Accelerating Inclusive Sustainable Innovation working across sectors to support the development of innovations, jobs and opportunities through the transition to new emissions reduction practices (e.g., small-holding farmers) for vulnerable groups who are historically socially and/or economically reliant on the status quo.  - Enhancing Capacity across the Institutional Framework by connecting knowledge providers (e.g., universities, citizens’ science practitioners, businesses, and regulatory bodies) through shared education and skills development activities to underpin the long-term knowledge base.  The following communities/sectors will directly benefit from the uP-Cycle project in the following ways:   - For lakeshore communities directly impacted by eutrophication (e.g., risks to human health, supply of food, drinking water, recreation, property values, aesthetic, spiritual and cultural benefits).  - The wider community, within the lake catchment and beyond, that are reliant on lake ecosystem services (e.g., drinking water, irrigation water, transportation, recreation, and hydropower).  - For coastal communities impacted by nutrient pollution delivered from upstream freshwater catchments.   - For aqua culturists, by supporting improved (long-term) and sustainable fisheries and through relief from future risk of hypoxic waters as a result of eutrophication.   - For waste managers through access to knowledge, training and technical guidance on the management of phosphorus-rich wastes to optimize phosphorus recycling.   - For farmers through better phosphorus management policies and practices, such as access to recycled phosphorus fertilizer, and contributing to food security.  -For communities economically dependent on biodiversity and high-quality freshwater ecosystems, through improved revenue from eco-tourism.