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Daily highlights (click on the following links to see our daily web pages)
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 To mark the 20th anniversary of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the GEF organized a gala reception on the eve of the 40th meeting of the GEF Council. The 23 May 2011 reception took place at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC. As the Master of Ceremonies, Andre Laperriere, Deputy CEO of the GEF, noted, the location was a special place to celebrate a special milestone – a place where participants could honor countless generations who have shown us how to provide responsible stewardship of the land, water and sky.
Monique Barbut, GEF CEO, presented a timeline of the GEF’s achievements and looked forward to its continued contributions. She noted that, during her tenure as CEO, she has introduced reforms that reduced the time required for a project to move from concept to approval from 66 months to 18 months, and emphasized that the GEF has a unique role to play in strengthening delivery channels to allow countries to make meaningful investments in sustainable development. Kerri-Ann Jones, US Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, commended the GEF on its 20 years. Nokuzola Mndende, a Tribal leader/healer connected with the GEF’s small grants program and the founding Director at the Icamagu Institute, offered a Tribal Blessing, and Hector Parion Oyacachi, Ecuador, a woodcarver with GEF’s small grants program, presented the GEF CEO with a special GEF anniversary keepsake.
The 40th meeting of the GEF Council will convene from 24-26 May 2011 in Washington, DC, to consider agenda items including the Annual Country Portfolio Evaluation Report – 2011, the Annual Performance Report – 2010, the Four-year Work Program and Budget of the Evaluation Office, and the Work Program.
 Visit the web coverage for Monday, 23 May 2011. |
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The 40th meeting of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Council was opened by Monique Barbut, CEO/Chairperson of the Facility, who underscored that the Council’s decisions on Article 28 of the GEF instrument (cooperation with other bodies) will influence further international environmental financial decisions, notably those at the Durban Climate Change Conference and the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20). She noted the key innovation of allowing regional and national entities and non-governmental organizations to become partner entities with the GEF.
The Council then elected by acclamation Karine Siegwart (Switzerland) as Co-Chair, adopted the agenda for its three-day meeting, and worked through its first full day of deliberations. James Willis, Joint Executive Secretary of the Basel, Stockholm and Rotterdam Conventions, reported on the fifth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Stockholm Convention along with upcoming COP meetings of the Basel and Rotterdam Conventions. Yolando Velasco, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat, on behalf of Christiana Figueres, UNFCCC Executive Secretary, said aligning the GEF climate change focal area, the LDC (Least Developed Countries) Fund and Special Climate Change Fund to the priorities that are emerging in the negotiations will be crucial for implementing the Cancun Agreements. He also thanked the GEF for contributing to the Transitional Committee of the Green Climate Fund by seconding a senior staff member to the Technical Support Unit. Following these statements, the GEF Council discussed relations with the conventions and strengthening relations with the conventions in the GEF Network.
Thomas Lovejoy, Chair of the Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel (STAP), presented recent STAP initiatives and advisory products, including work on: Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) disposal technology; hypoxia in coastal marine ecosystems; marine debris; and a review of current adaptation strategies among development agencies. He said STAP is engaged in the “Planet Under Pressure” scientific conference, which will take place in March 2012 as an input to Rio+20.
During the afternoon, the GEF Council considered agenda items on: the Annual Country Portfolio Evaluation Report-2011 and Management Response; the Annual Performance Report-2010 and Management Response; the Annual Monitoring Report; the Four-Year Work Program and Budget of the Evaluation Office; and, in an Executive Session, the FY12 -14 Business Plan and FY12 Corporate Budget.
Visit the web coverage for Tuesday, 24 May 2011.
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During the second day of the 40th meeting of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Council, Council Members concluded their deliberations on: the Evaluation Office and Corporate FY12 budgets; the work programme; and enhancing the visibility of the GEF. The work programme comprises project concepts and one programmatic approach – regarding support for the Great Green Wall initiative – subject to comments made during the Council meeting and additional comments that may be submitted to the GEF Secretariat by 9 June 2011.
Following a discussion of the strategy to engage with the private sector, the Council agreed to call for comments and to ask the Secretariat to resubmit the strategy to the November 2011 Council meeting.
The Council discussed the proposal for broadening the GEF Partnership under Paragraph 28 of the GEF Instrument, which seeks to set the criteria and accreditation procedures for allowing new entities into the Partnership during a pilot phase, recommending that five of ten new agency spots be reserved for national institutions and not approving applications for other types of entities (regional, NGO) until those five slots are filled. Members disagreed on whether bilateral agencies should be included during the pilot phase, and will continue their discussion Thursday morning. Related to this agenda item, they also discussed a revised proposal for GEF policies on environmental and social safeguards and gender mainstreaming, and agreed to refer to the policies on environmental and social safeguards as “provisional,” with a view to revisiting them at the November 2011 Council meeting.
A new draft of the document on “Outstanding Issues Related to the Nagoya Protocol Implementation Fund” was circulated on Wednesday afternoon. Following an initial discussion, Council Members decided to continue their deliberations on Thursday.
Visit the web coverage for Wednesday, 25 May 2011.
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The 40th meeting of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Council concluded its three-day meeting at 3:54 pm on Thursday, 26 May.
Following the adoption on Thursday, Council Members applauded their “historic” decision on broadening the GEF Partnership under Paragraph 28 of the GEF Instrument, which was reached after a drafting group developed language indicating that, while bilateral agencies will not be eligible for accreditation at this time, their participation in the pilot phase will be considered at the first meeting of the Council in 2013. Members also applauded their decision to approve the arrangements for the operation of the Nagoya Protocol Implementation Fund. At the conclusion of the discussion on this topic, the representative from France announced that her country would contribute 1 million Euros to the Fund.
Among other items, the Council also discussed a proposal for criteria for the establishment of trust funds within the GEF, but asked the Secretariat to revise the proposal for consideration by Council at its November 2011 meeting, taking into account views expressed by Council members at this meeting. The Council also discussed an upcoming review of GEF Agency fees, and information regarding the status of the Instruments of Commitment and the possible implications for GEF-5 programming in the potential case of decisions of donor countries to defer contributions following arrears of individual donor countries.
During the 10th meeting of the Council for the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) and Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF), which took place in the afternoon, Germany pledged 50 million Euros to the LDCF, and 25 million to the SCCF, and Australia pledged AUS$ 15 million to the LDCF, as Copenhagen Climate Change Conference fast start financing pledges.
Visit the web coverage for Thursday, 26 May 2011.
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Daily highlights (click on the following links to see our daily web pages)
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GEF resources
Fortieth GEF Council Working documents
Fortieth GEF Council provisional agenda
GEF website
IISD RS resources
IISD RS coverage of the Fourth GEF Assembly, 24-28 May 2010, Punta del Este, Uruguay
IISD RS coverage of the Third GEF Assembly, 29-30 August 2006, Cape Town, South Africa
IISD RS coverage of the Second GEF Assembly, 16-18 October 2002, Beijing, China
IISD RS coverage of the First GEF Assembly, 1-3 April 1998, New Delhi, India
Biodiversity Policy & Practice - A Knowledgebase of UN and Intergovernmental Activities Addressing International Biodiversity Policy
Sustainable Development Policy & Practice - A Knowledgebase of International Activities Preparing for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development
SIDS Policy & Practice - A Knowledgebase on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States
Climate Change Policy & Practice - A Knowledgebase of UN and Intergovernmental Activities Addressing Global Climate Change Policy
Linkages Update - Bi-weekly international environment and sustainable development news
MEA Bulletin - Newsletter on key MEAs and their secretariats
African Regional Coverage
Latin America and Caribbean Regional Coverage |
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Fortieth Meeting of the Global Environment Facility Council 
