67th GEF Council Meeting

The 67th meeting of the GEF Council, the 36th meeting of the Least Developed Countries Fund/Special Climate Change Fund (LDCF/SCCF) Council, and the 2nd meeting of the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF) Council concluded their deliberations on a heavy agenda. The closing sessions for each Council meeting confirmed the decisions taken throughout the four days of meetings.

Key decisions taken by the Councils included the first ever work program for the newly established GBFF, which includes three projects for a total of $37.82 million. The largest ever LDCF work program, in the amount of $203 million, includes projects and programs across 20 countries. The LDCF program proposals will support a global program focused on adaptation innovation and a multi-trust fund program for the Great Green Wall Initiative. The work program adopted for the GEF Trust Fund consists of 25 projects and programs amounting to $495.6 million. With this agreement, 59% of the entire GEF-8 envelope has been programmed halfway into the replenishment period.

On Thursday, in addition to the approval of the Co-Chairs’ summaries of the three Council meetings, the LDCF/SCCF Council also considered the progress report of the LDCF and SCCF, the FY25 administrative budget and business plan for the LDCF and SCCF, and the FY25 work program and budget for the Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) of the GEF under the LDCF and SCCF.

On the Progress Report on the LDCF and SCCF, Samanthia Justin, Council Member from St. Lucia, provided insights on a recent Expanded Constituency Workshop (ECW) that took place for Caribbean Small Island Developing States (SIDS). She indicated the participating countries discussed climate adaptation challenges and best practices and solutions. In addition, each participant at the ECW designed a GEF project based on their country’s priorities. She thanked the donors to the SCCF and called for more pledges focused on technology transfer and the private sector.

On the FY25 Administrative Budget and Business Plan for the LDCF and the SCCF, Council members addressed developments and achievements related to:

• two work programs requesting over $400 million of LCDF/SCCF resources;
• support to LDCs and SIDS; and
• implementation of the inclusive GEF Assembly Challenge Program.

Council members also reviewed and approved the three dedicated programs for FY25 on: communication and visibility enhancement; outreach and capacity support; and organizational learning and coordination.

The LDCF/SCCF Council also reviewed and approved the FY25 Work Program and Budget for the IEO of the GEF under the LDCF and SCCF, including the IEO LDCF/SCCF Annual Evaluation Report (AER) 2024, providing an overview of the performance of the funds, which happen biannually. The AER 2024 has identified several cross-cutting priorities and considerations to address climate change adaptation effectively, namely: 

• strengthening innovation; 
• private sector engagement; 
• gender equality; 
• youth empowerment; 
• resilience to climate and non-climate related shocks;
• institutional capacity development; and
• climate adaptation awareness raising.

At the close of the GEF Council, Elected Co-Chair Dawda Badgie expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to co-chair the meeting and thanked all participants for their hard work. He underscored that the planet is facing all kinds of environmental problems impacting the health and survival of all life. He reminded participants that addressing global environmental changes and biodiversity loss requires a systematic approach and working together. GEF CEO Rodriguez thanked the Secretariat for their participation.

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“Carlos Manuel, the GEF family and the global community are counting on you”. The Council reconvened following a closed session with this announcement by Laura Aguirre, Chair of the Selection and Review Committee and Mexico’s Council Member, communicating the Council’s decision to reappoint Carlos Manuel Rodríguez for a second term as the GEF CEO and Chairperson. 

The Council spent the bulk of the third day in the Council meetings of the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF) and the Least Developed Countries Fund/Special Climate Change Fund (LDCF/SCCF), approving:

• the first GBFF work program, amounting to $37.82 million; and
• largest to date LDCF work program, in the amount of $203.02 million.

The GBFF work program comprises three projects:

• Conserving Mexican biodiversity through communities and their protected areas;
• Biodiversity Conservation in Indigenous Lands, in Brazil; and
• Caatinga Protected Areas Program, in Brazil.

During the discussion, most Council members and constituency groups took the floor, recognizing the historic nature of the adoption of this first work program. Council members highlighted the agreement that the GBFF portfolio should target 39% of funding for LDCs and SIDS and expressed hope that future work programs would move towards this allocation. Speakers also noted there was agreement that international financial institutions (IFIs) and multilateral development banks (MDBs) would receive 25% of project funding, with the goal of helping these implementing agencies to scale up their biodiversity funding. Several speakers encouraged IFIs and MDBs to submit more requests in the next funding round.

Benjamin Bélair, Quebec’s Delegate in Washington, DC underscored the long-standing engagement of Quebec in international cooperation, through international climate cooperation projects, and support, among others, to the CBD.

While thanking Canada, Germany, Japan, Luxembourg, Spain, and the United Kingdom for their support to the GBFF, Carlos Manuel Rodríguez stressed that more resources are urgently needed.

Following the adoption, David Cooper, Acting Executive Secretary for the Convention on Biological Diversity, congratulated the Council and commended it on the speed in which it responded to the request of CBD COP15 to establish the fund.

In opening the meeting of the LDCF/SCCF Council, Rodríguez noted it can be hard to understand the impact of the LDCF/SSCF work around the world. He invited Council members to watch a video from a visit to an LDCF/SCCF project site in Bhutan, on improving planning in two urban areas.

The LDCF work program includes two programs and national projects in Angola, Cambodia, Chad, Comoros, Gambia, Guinea, Lao PDR, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, Somalia, and Tanzania. The two program proposals consist of:

• a global program focused on adaptation innovation, including Ethiopia, Lesotho, Malawi, and Somalia;
• and a multi-trust fund program for the Great Green Wall Initiative involving Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, and Mauritania.

All projects considered in the work program had embedded gender equality considerations at the initial design stage. The projects and programs focus on: agriculture, fisheries and food security; nature-based solutions; water resources management; climate information services and early warning systems; disaster risk management; coastal zone management; climate-resilient transport; and urban resilience.

The LDCF/SCCF Council also considered and approved the FY23 Annual Monitoring Review of the LDCF and SCCF with many Council members expressing how pleased they were with the good performance of both funds, especially the gender specific results and the large participation of African countries.

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The second day of the 67th meeting of the GEF Council opened with a dialogue between Council members and executives from international conventions. The heads of conventions were asked to reflect on recent and upcoming activities related to the GEF and to identify ways the GEF-9 replenishment could support their conventions’ implementation. Synergies among conventions, support for achieving upcoming objectives and targets set by the conventions, and the need to simplify funding application procedures were among the topics raised during this session.

Ibrahim Thiaw, Executive Secretary, UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), addressed the Council through a video link and stressed the importance of large-scale restoration through multi-country actions that build resilience for drought, secure food for all, and reduce tensions.

Miguel de Serpa Soares, UN Legal Counsel and Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs, noted that the international agreement on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement) already has 90 signatories and seven ratifications (Federated States of Micronesia, Mauritius, Monaco, Seychelles, Belize, Chile, and Palau).

Rolph Payet, Executive Secretary, Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm Conventions, suggested continuing to mobilize resources, fostering coordination among multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) and UN agencies, and keeping the Stockholm Convention’s deadlines and goals in mind.

Monika Stankiewicz, Executive Secretary, Minamata Convention on Mercury, emphasized a role for the GEF in promoting synergies, including between mercury and biodiversity action. She stressed the importance of supporting governments to produce documents that are “living guides” for implementation.

David Cooper, Acting Executive Secretary, Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), outlined four areas where major achievements need to be made during CBD COP16, namely:

• demonstrating that the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) is being implemented and countries are setting targets aligned with it;
• negotiating a multilateral mechanism for fair and equitable sharing of benefits from digital sequence information on genetic resources (DSI), including a new fund that will have resources from uses of DSI;
• a new program of work on how Indigenous Peoples and local communities will support the GBF; and
• mechanisms to mobilize resources and continue the GEF’s role as a financial mechanism.

In a video message, Daniele Violetti, Senior Director, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), highlighted a role for the GEF in building capacity, said access to financial resources must be simplified, and noted the GEFs role in funding adaptation.

During a discussion on the multilateral climate funds (MCFs) action plan on complementarity and coherence, which was prepared by the Adaptation Fund, the Climate Investment Funds, the GEF, and the Green Climate Fund (GCF), GEF CEO and Chairperson Rodríguez shared that the final action plan will be published by the heads of the MCFs at UNFCCC COP29. He reported that, through closer collaboration, the funds aim to: enhance access to climate finance through promoting efficiencies and streamlining processes; increase the impact of MCF support for developing countries’ climate goals; and play an enabling role in the international climate finance architecture. Many Council members welcomed the draft action plan and commended the GEF for leading this work amongst the MCFs.

Additional agenda items discussed on Tuesday included an Evaluation on Co-financing in the GEF, the Eighth Comprehensive Evaluation of the GEF (OPS8) Approach Paper, an Evaluation of the Global Wildlife Program, an assessment of Portfolio-Level Risk at the GEF, and the Independent Evaluation Office’s 2025 Work Program and Budget.

At the close of the second day, members were reminded of the dates and locations for the next three Council meetings. The 68th meeting will be held virtually during the week of 16 December 2024; the 69th meeting will take place in a hybrid format in Washington, DC, at the World Bank the week of June2, 2025; and the 70th meeting will be held virtually during the week of December 15, 2025.

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The 67th meeting of the Global Environment Facility Council gathered at the mid-point of its current replenishment (GEF-8) and nearly one year following the ratification and launch of the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF) at the Seventh GEF Assembly.

Council members opened their packed agenda with agreement on a work program for the GEF Trust Fund consisting of 25 projects and programs amounting to $495.6 million. With this agreement, the GEF has reached 59% of the entire GEF-8 envelope halfway into the replenishment period.

Claude Gascon, GEF Secretariat, stated that the biodiversity focal point received the highest portion of funding, with $169.2 million, followed by chemicals and waste, with $114.3 million, land degradation with $92.6 million, climate change with $64.7 million, international waters with $39.8 million, and the Non-Grant Instrument (NGI) program with $15 million. He highlighted the Great Green Wall Multi-Trust Fund Program between the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) and the GEF Trust Fund, the Coral Bond blended finance project which builds on the lessons from the Rhino Bond project and the Sustainable Cities Integrated Program (IP), the last of the IPs to be funded.

In his opening statement, Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, GEF CEO and Chairperson, identified key challenges and opportunities on the Council’s agenda. Highlighting the challenges facing the Large Oceanic Small Island Developing States, CEO Rodríguez emphasized it is time to invest in a mature and reliable global carbon market, biodiversity credits, green bonds, third-generation debt swaps for nature, and the implementation of global systems that ensure fair and equitable sharing of benefits that arise from the use of genetic resources. He noted the GEF can be a “reliable cost-effective option for such initiatives particularly with the potential levies on sectors like shipping, aviation, and fossil fuel extraction.”

Rodríguez stressed that achieving goals under multiple multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs), including the “battle for 1.5 degrees, protecting 30% of the land and the ocean, the restoration of degraded lands, and the phase-out of [persistent organic pollutants] POPs,” depends on decision makers’ efforts this decade. He said the next GEF replenishment (GEF-9) can be a “game-changer in multilateralism and resource mobilization.”

CEO Rodríguez noted the meeting would comprise three Council meetings with three large and diverse work programs. The GEF Trust Fund will consider an almost half billion-dollar work program with 25 projects and programs. The LDCF work program is the largest ever, at $203 million. And the first ever work program from the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund, which was established less than one year ago, will be considered.

In closing, he stressed that the GEF partnership needs to rise to the challenges, by assessing “what we have, where we need to go, and how we will get there”. He called for a partnership that is “bigger, bolder, and better. Bigger in our ambitions. Bolder in our actions. And better in our delivery, better in our impact.”

During an afternoon presentation, Rosina Bierbaum, Chairperson of the Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel (STAP), reviewed new scientific discoveries, recent STAP reports, STAP’s assessments of the work programs, and GEF-9 directions. With regard to future work, Bierbaum said initial consultations prior to GEF-9 have highlighted the need to mobilize three positive tipping points. To operationalize a whole-of-society approach, she highlighted the need to ensure synergies between global environmental benefits and social and economic co-benefits. To achieve policy coherence, she highlighted the need to maintain sustained engagement in policy reform and implementation. To catalyze durable transformational change, she highlighted the need to consider how to best address resistance to transformation and to identify necessary societal learning and adaptive management.

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