UNEP has supported the building of resilience and the creation of capacities in a manner responsive to the particular needs of small island developing States . To that end , UNEP is implementing the Global Environment Facility ( GEF ) funded project on coastal resilience to climate change : developing a generalizable method for assessing vulnerability and adaptation of mangroves and associated ecosystems , with the overall goal of increasing the resilience of vulnerable mangrove and coral reef ecosystems to the impacts of climate change .