Global Environment Facility

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The Global Environment Facility (GEF) unites 178 countries in partnership with international institutions, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and the private sector to address global environmental issues while supporting national sustainable development initiatives. Today the GEF is the largest funder of projects to improve the global environment. An independent financial organization, the GEF provides grants for projects related to biodiversity, climate change, international waters, land degradation, the ozone layer, and persistent organic pollutants.

[edit] GEF funding

Since 1991, GEF has achieved a strong track record with developing countries and countries with economies in transition, providing $7.6 billion in grants and leveraging $30.6 billion in co-financing for over 2,000 projects in over 165 countries. Up to 20% of this funding flows through Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs).

The GEF is also the financial mechanism for four international environmental conventions:

As such, the GEF helps fund initiatives that assist developing countries in meeting the objectives of the Conventions. GEF also collaborates closely with other international treaties and agreements, and at the Bali climate change meeting in December 2007, has been selected to host the interim secretariat for the 'adaptation fund'.

GEF funds are contributed by donor countries. In 2002, 32 donor countries pledged $3 billion to fund operations through 2006. At the Fourth GEF Assembly in 2006, an additional $3.13 billion was committed.

[edit] GEF structure

The GEF Assembly is the governing body of the GEF, in which representatives of all 176 member countries participate. It meets every three to four years, and is responsible for reviewing and evaluating the GEF's general policies, the operation of the GEF, and its membership. Ministers and high-level government delegations of all GEF member countries take part in the meetings.

The GEF Assembly selects a subset of its members to serve on the GEF Council. The GEF Council functions as an independent board of directors, with primary responsibility for developing, adopting, and evaluating GEF programs. Council members representing 32 constituencies (16 from developing countries, 14 from developed countries, and two from countries with transitional economies) meet twice each year for three days and also conduct business by mail. All decisions are by consensus. The Council's open door policy toward non-governmental organizations and representatives of civil society makes it unique among international financial institutions.

The GEF Secretariat, with a staff of 40 based in Washington, D.C. working under the CEO and Chairperson (currently Monique Barbut), reports directly to the GEF Council and Assembly, ensuring that their decisions are translated into effective actions. The secretariat coordinates the formulation of projects included in the annual work program, oversees its implementation, and ensures that operational strategy and policies are followed.

The new restructured GEF taps into the comparative advantages of experienced institutions to manage and implement its projects. These ten implementing agencies are:

Teamwork by these agencies is reinforcing their individual efforts to 'mainstream' or incorporate global environment concerns into all of their policies and programs.

An independent GEF Evaluation Office is also located in Washington, D.C., and reports directly to the GEF Council.

[edit] External links