Council supports CEO Naoko Ishii’s initiative to develop GEF 2020 strategy
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WASHINGTON, DC, Nov. 16, 2012 – The Global Environment Facility Council strongly supported CEO Naoko Ishii’s initiative to conduct a “GEF 2020” strategic exercise. It will help position the organization to catalyze international efforts for transformational change in responding to growing global environmental threats.
The 43rd meeting of the GEF Council, a representative body of nations that meets twice a year to make key decisions on GEF programs, covered a range of issues this week, from the upcoming work program to innovative ideas for streamlining the GEF project cycle. Dr. Ishii, in her first Council meeting since being named CEO and chairperson last summer, kicked off this week’s meeting with a discussion of the GEF 2020 exercise.
“The global environment is in crisis. The GEF is at a critical juncture. If we are to be proud of the GEF ten years from now, we need to squarely face the uncomfortable fact that we, together with the global community, are failing to turn around the worrisome trend in the global environment,” Dr. Ishii said. “We need to face the regrettable fact that the protection of the global commons, which is the GEF’s mandate, is seldom treated as a critical priority. I consider it vital for the GEF to articulate a long-term vision and strategy for 2020 and beyond.”
The GEF 2020 strategic exercise, Dr. Ishii said, “will seek to answer a range of questions critical to the GEF’s future. It will explore broader and bolder changes in the way we manage the global environment. It will seek to identify what unique role this institution can play in catalyzing transformational change.”
Dr. Ishii welcomed a report submitted to the Council by the STAP entitled “Climate Change: Scientific Assessment for the GEF.” The Report makes it clear that for some ecosystems, such as coral reefs and low lying coastal regions, grasslands and semi-arid areas, and high altitude or high latitude areas, anticipated global temperature increases will prove overwhelming. Dr. Ishii also noted the vital importance to the GEF’s long-term success of the work of the GEF Evaluation Office in monitoring the results of GEF investments and pointing out how to improve performance.
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The Council approved 28 stand-alone projects and one programmatic approach for a total of US$ 174 million across the GEF’s focal areas, including biodiversity, climate change, land degradation, international waters, and chemical pollutants. Co-financing from other sources leveraged by this investment totals $908.85 million, meaning that each dollar in GEF grants is generating $5.73 in co-financing. The Work Program will benefit 63 recipient countries, 18 of them with more than one project, along with 154 developing countries that will benefit under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change program for developing national reports.
Climate change mitigation projects in the Work Program are expected to reduce direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 174 million tons of CO2 equivalent. Two stand-alone projects in the persistent organic pollutants (POPs) focal area would reduce toxic PCBs by more than 3,000 tons and obsolete agricultural pesticides by some 380 tons.
Most of the biodiversity projects included in the Work Program address the Convention on Biological Diversity goal of safeguarding ecosystems, in particular the Aichi Target 11, aimed at expanding the coverage of terrestrial, coastal and marine areas. Swaziland’s project, for example, will increase the country’s protected area network by a significant 33%. South Africa, a global leader in biodiversity mainstreaming, will introduce measures to safeguard biodiversity in the context of infrastructure development and land use planning, addressing five of the 20 CBD Aichi Targets. An International Waters project for the Drin River Basin of Albania, Montenegro, and Macedonia will promote the joint management of shared waters to reverse uncontrolled development trends threatening the supply of freshwater and the health of unique ecosystems. In the Drylands of Northwest Argentina where land degradation has become a major environmental and development challenge, a GEF-funded project will reduce threats to agriculture and livestock production through the introduction of sustainable practices across 14,000 km2 of drylands, with the potential to be expanded to an additional 300,000 km2.
Five multi-focal area projects were approved, demonstrating the strategic importance of combining different focal area objectives into integrated approaches that support the implementation of multiple conventions. The most salient feature of these projects is the promotion of cross-sectoral approaches to landscape-scale management.
Among other decisions and topics of discussion at this week’s Council meeting:
- Council directed the GEF Secretariat and the Trustee to initiate donor negotiations toward the Sixth Replenishment Cycle of the GEF, a funding period that will run from 2014 to 2018
- Council received the report of a working group on streamlining the GEF project cycle.
- GEF Secretariat updated the Council on the accreditation process for GEF Project Agencies. The work continues and an initial review of applications from the 11 organizations is expected to be ready in June 2013.
- Council directed the Secretariat, as a contingency against a potential shortfall in donor countries not fulfilling financial pledges, to undertake programing maintaining the balance among the original allocations in the GEF-5 replenishment decision, assist least developed countries (LDCs) and small island developing states (SIDS) in accessing resources, and continue to support core obligations to conventions.
Dr. Ishii also addressed the 13th meeting of the Council of the Least Developed Countries Fund and the Special Climate Change Fund. She spoke of the need to replicate and scale up the successes achieved in programs such as the development of climate-resilient crops in food-insecure countries such as Haiti, Niger, Ethiopia and Cambodia and the strengthening of weather and climate data collection in sub-Saharan Africa.
“I want to send a very strong signal that the issue of adaptation is an important priority,” Dr. Ishii said, “and my resolve to support vulnerable developing countries, particularly LDCs and SIDs, in meeting this challenge will be unwavering.”
The LDCF/SCCF Council approved the Joint Work Program supporting five projects, with $28.54 million for SCCF-Adaptation projects. The work program also includes a multi-trust fund project that draws resources from SCCF-Adaptation and $1.87 million from LDCF. This work program adds to the 20 projects already approved under the LDCF in the last six months, on a rolling basis. In total, $114.3 million was approved for these projects that will deliver adaptation benefits in the poorest countries of the world.
Dr. Ishii also welcomed additional contributions to the funds of Belgium, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden totaling $80.8 million to make vulnerable developing nations more resilient to the impacts of climate change.
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Contact:
Mr. John Diamond
Senior Communication Officer | Spokesperson
Phone +1 202 458 7953
E-mail: jdiamond@thegef.org
Press Release No:11152012
About the Global Environment Facility
The Global Environment Facility (GEF) unites 182 countries in partnership with international institutions, civil society organizations (CSOs), and the private sector to address global environmental issues while supporting national sustainable development initiatives. Today the GEF is the largest public funder of projects to improve the global environment. An independently operating financial organization, the GEF provides grants for projects related to biodiversity, climate change, international waters, land degradation, the ozone layer, and persistent organic pollutants.
Since 1991, GEF has achieved a strong track record with developing countries and countries with economies in transition, providing $10.5 billion in grants and leveraging $51 billion in co-financing for over 2,700 projects in over 168 countries. Through its Small Grants Programme (SGP), the GEF has also made more than 14,000 small grants directly to civil society and community based organizations, totaling $634 million. For more information, visit www.thegef.org.
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