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The Fifth GEF Assembly took place in Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico on May 28th and 29th 2014. It was held during a weeklong series of events, including a full-day Civil Society Forum, the 46th GEF Council Meeting, and a variety of side events organized by the GEF Secretariat, the Independent Evaluation Office of the GEF and GEF partner agencies.

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The President of Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto, attended the Assembly along with more than 150 member countries, 17 international organizations, and 159 civil society organizations. The CEO and Chairperson of the GEF, Naoko Ishii, underscored Mexico's leadership role in the sixth replenishment of funds, when it increased its contribution to US$ 20 million.

"Mexico's decision to double its contribution to the GEF was the key that opened the door to other donor countries", said Ishii.

The Fifth GEF Assembly took note of the GEF-6 replenishment negotiations concluded in April, with a record sum of $4.43 billion pledged, representing strong donor support and an expression of confidence in the work of the GEF.

Ishii stated that the replenishment outcome "built consensus around a package of program and policy recommendations that will help keep the GEF at the forefront on many global environmental issues. It will allow the GEF to respond to its new responsibilities, strengthen our focus on the poorest countries, continue our momentum to engage with the private sector, and enhance our focus on gender and results".

As another important outcome of the meeting, the GEF Assembly welcomed the GEF 2020 strategy.. At a time when governments, companies and individuals are joining efforts to produce measurable commitments that clearly reduce the environmental footprint, the Fifth GEF Assembly highlighted the importance of finding innovative solutions to address the drivers of environmental degradation that can have impact at scale, producing global environmental benefits through integrated approaches, synergies and partnerships with the private sector and civil society.

The gatherings in Cancun emphasized that business as usual is not an option. The Fifth Assembly highlighted innovative approaches through several high-level roundtables, which included themes such as the importance of obtaining increased levels of financing to promote green growth, the value of natural capital, the enhancement of productivity through sustainable supply chains, the importance of the water, energy and food nexus, and sustainable and resilient cities and infrastructure for the future.

The Secretary of the Environment and Natural Resources, Juan José Guerra Abud, who chaired the Fifth GEF Assembly, recognized the ties between the environment and development, stating at the closing ceremony that "if we maintain healthy ecosystems, if we manage them correctly and we manage to stabilize the climate, we will have the proper elements to attain sustainable development, create jobs and generate prosperity for all people".
"The GEF has the necessary conditions to promote the protection of ecosystems, widening development opportunities for all, and must do so in a decisive manner, with the 2020 vision having been welcomed in this Assembly", he added.

The Secretary of Finance and Public Credit, Dr. Luis Videgaray Caso, stated that the GEF "serves as an example of what can be achieved through international cooperation when clear objectives are set and specific instruments designed to achieve a clear-cut agenda."

High-level roundtables

Financing Green Growth

Green growth is making economic development compatible with the imperative to maintain our environment. Financing this shift, however, is a big challenge. An estimated US$700 billion are needed each year to make growth 'green.' This figure can only be reached if the need to be green is deeply embedded in the entire world.

The beginnings of the shift are already being seen. Ten years ago companies talked about conservation as part of their 'Corporate Social Responsibility,' but today concerns about sustainability are embedded in their DNA as they know they will not survive if not. It is in the self-interest of the private sector to advance the green-growth agenda.

• Natural Capital

The ecosystems that exist on Earth supported and sustained themselves until mankind tried to change the rules. We are living the effects of these actions today and there will only be losers in the long-term if we do not implement natural capital accounting. Maintaining the economy as usual is not environmentally sustainable, so the question we need to ask is how to take natural capital accounting forward?

The first step is to endow countries with the capacity to effectively measure their natural capital, which requires not only the commitment of their governments but also those of neighboring countries. The second is to ensure that subsidies aren't counterproductive. Many governments are still subsidizing unsustainable fisheries, for example. This money could be redirected to conservation measures to revitalize fish stocks.

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Jeffrey Sachs, Earth Institute and Rajendra Pachauri, IPCC Chair , during a round table discussion

 

• Water, Food and Energy Nexus

With the world's population projected to surpass 9 billion by 2050, growing demand for water, food and energy will increase pressure on ecosystems and supply chains. Most of this population growth will occur in regions already experiencing water stress, and it's expected that by 2030, 47% of world population will be living in areas of high water stress.

Water, food and energy are inextricably linked. Agriculture uses 70% of available freshwater and contributes more than 30% of Greenhouse Gas emissions, so it has to be at the center of a nexus approach. The world has become complacent and with a growing population it will face major challenges in feeding another 2 billion people while 2 billion people already suffer from hidden hunger.

Ensuring a water, food and energy nexus is therefore critical to the success of human rights, of eliminating poverty and promoting health for future generations.

• Sustainable commodities

If we don't take care of our environment, Protected Areas will become like museums, which we visit to see what the world used to look like. There is just a narrow window of opportunity to ensure future generations can enjoy the planet in the same way that we do. The key is to use purchasing power to change actions on the ground, but it will take governments, private sector, civil society and international organizations to work together to find a solution.

• The role of legislation in accelerating and scaling up change at the national scale

Legal mandates and frameworks are essential as countries advance toward sustainable development and resilience agendas as integral parts of their economic planning processes. Most existing policies and regulations do not consider environmental objectives. This may result from lack of knowledge about the real costs and potential benefits related to environmental goods and harms, from limited institutional capacity to develop robust policy, from silo-ed management of issues, or because constituencies with entrenched interests prevent politicians from acting.

In GEF-6, there will be expanded opportunities for investments in integrated approaches and larger programs to enable developing countries to put in place new policy and regulatory frameworks. These should ensure the continuous flow of ecosystem services, such as for natural capital approaches, and create enabling conditions to increase the renewable energy base and promote energy efficiency.

• Sustainable and resilient cities

With nearly all global population growth over the next two decades expected to occur in cities in the developing world sustainable development cannot be achieved without answering the urbanization challenges. Cities have the opportunity to rethink urban design fundamentally and build-in sustainability considerations. They also are the hub of green growth and incubators of innovative solutions. The concentration of people and institutions enables economies of scale in providing green infrastructure and services. Cities offer a robust platform to generate and disseminate technological, scientific, and social ideas, with potential for transformational impacts.

In the context of a GEF pilot initiative planned for Sustainable Cities during the coming GEF-6 cycle to support cities in taking an integrated approach to address environmental degradation, this high-level panel was an opportunity to discuss what are the successful urban initiatives that target multiple drivers of sustainable development, and what are the high impact sectors and activities—e.g. building codes, lighting, transport, water use and reuse, or others— that could be targeted in order to sustain and replicate efforts.

• Multilateral environmental agreements and the post-2015 framework: a forward-looking agenda

The GEF, as financial mechanism to several Multilateral Environmental Agreements, is uniquely positioned to promote integrated approaches to effectively implement convention guidance at the national level. The integrated programs and projects promoted by the GEF are key means to achieve higher level impacts of the conventions and may provide the key to achieving transformational change in the way we address global environmental and development issues.

As the process of developing and implementing the Sustainable Development Goals moves forward, the GEF should be looking at how its investments and experience can be leveraged as the global community works to realize the emerging ambitions of the Post-2015 framework. Discussions at the roundtable highlighted key role the GEF has to play in catalyzing larger investments through strategic and integrated approaches, and the contribution the GEF can make to sustainable development. The GEF's experience is an important foundation for this new agenda. 

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