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Biodiversity Policy & Practice
Global Environment Facility (GEF) consultation meeting with Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), 44th Meeting of the GEF Council and 14th meeting of the Least Developed Countries Fund and the Special Climate Change Fund (LDCF/SCCF) Council

17-20 June 2013 | World Bank headquarters, Washington, DC, United States of America
 
Daily highlights (click on the following links to see our daily web pages)
 
Summary Highlights of the Meeting

Thursday, 20 June 2013

The forty-fourth GEF Council met for a third and last day on Thursday, 20 June 2013 at the World Bank headquarters in Washington D.C. Council members and their Alternates met in a closed session in the morning to consider the report of the Selection and Review Committee.

Naoko Ishii, GEF CEO and Chairperson, then opened the 14th meeting of the Adaptation to Climate Change for the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) and the Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF). The LDCF/SCCF Council adopted decisions on, inter alia, the joint work program for the LDCF/SCCF, and the administrative budgets of the Funds. The Funds were bolstered by additional pledges, amounting to US$129 million for the LDCF, and US$69.2 million for the SCCF.

The Council then approved the joint summary of the chairs, and closed at 2:54pm.

1ENB Summary of the meeting in English and French now available (in HTML and in PDF format).

1Visit the full web daily coverage for Thursday, 20 June 2013

Josceline Wheatley Co-Chair, UK, closed the forty-fourth GEF Council meeting at 2:54 pm
 
   
L-R: Ramesh Ramankutty, GEF Secretariat, Bonizella Biagini, GEF Secretariat; Josceline Wheatley Co-Chair,
UK; Naoko Ishii, GEF CEO and Chairperson; and William Ehlers, GEF Secretariat

   
 
Naoko Ishii, GEF CEO and Chairperson
Josceline Wheatley Co-Chair, UK
William Ehlers, GEF Secretariat
 
Bonizella Biagini, GEF Secretariat, presenting the LCDF portfolio at a glance
 
Michelle Kaminski, Canada
 
Karine Siegwart, Switzerland
 
Erik Bjorneye, Norway
 
Jaco Tavenier, the Netherlands, (center) consulting with Canada
 
Jozef Buys, Belgium
M. Ul Haq Minhas, Pakistan
Chris Whaley, UK
 
Plenary view of the Council in session
 

Wednesday, 19 June 2013

The forty-fourth GEF Council met for a second day on Wednesday, 19 June 2013 at the World Bank headquarters in Washington D.C. The Council engaged in a discussion on synergies among conventions and the role of the GEF in this respect. Luc Gnacadja, Executive Secretary, UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), addressed the Council stating that GEF is in a unique position to be a "synergy broker." Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, Executive Secretary, Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), said GEF's role is to be a catalyst in promoting integrated approaches, noting that times of financial crisis present opportunities to do business differently. Jim Willis, Executive Secretary of the Joint Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm (BRS) Conventions, stressed that for synergies to be successful, they must be country-driven.

The Council also discussed draft decisions on the relations with the conventions and other international institutions, and on preparing the GEF to serve as the financial mechanism of the Minamata Convention on Mercury upon entry into force. The Council also heard a report from the Chairperson of GEF's Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel (STAP), Thomas Lovejoy, outgoing Chair of the STAP.

In the afternoon, they considered the work program, and the 2014 business plan and corporate budget. They also discussed a report on the pilot accreditation of GEF project agencies.

1ENB Summary of the meeting in English and French now available (in HTML and in PDF format).

1Visit the full web daily coverage for Wednesday, 19 June 2013

 
Naoko Ishii, GEF CEO and Chairperson, in conversation with Heads of Convention
Secretariats
 
Jim Willis, Executive Secretary, Basel,
Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions
Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias,
Executive Secretary, Convention on
Biological Diversity (CBD)
Luc Gnacadja, Executive Secretary, UN
Convention to Combat Desertification
(UNCCD)
 

L-R: Jim Willis, Executive Secretary, Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions; Luc
Gnacadja
, Executive Secretary, UNCCD; Josceline Wheatley Co-Chair, UK; Naoko Ishii, GEF
CEO and Chairperson; Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, Executive Secretary, Convention on
CBD; and William Ehlers, GEF Secretariat

 
 
Thomas Lovejoy, Chair, GEF-STAP, receiving a plaque of appreciation from Naoko Ishii, GEF CEO and Chairperson
 
L-R: Thomas Lovejoy, Chair, GEF-STAP; Naoko Ishii, GEF CEO and Chairperson; and Rosina Bierbaum, incoming Chair of GEF-STAP
 
 

Tuesday, 18 June 2013

The forty-fourth meeting of the Council of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) convened on Tuesday, 18 June 2013 in Washington D.C. The meeting was opened by GEF CEO and Chairperson, Naoko Ishii, who shared her reflections on her first year of work at the Facility. She described her efforts to engage with convention secretariats, world leaders, and the civil society among others, to ensure that “GEF has a seat at the table wherever key decisions on global environmental matters are being discussed.”

In the morning, the Council elected Josceline Wheatley (Council member for the UK) to Co-Chair the meeting. They considered and discussed the Annual Monitoring Report FY12: Part II, and the first report of Overall Performance Study and Management Response (OPS5). They heard a keynote address by Johan Rockström, Director of Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University in relation to the GEF 2020 Strategy. Naoko Ishii also gave an update on the GEF 2020 Strategy.

In the afternoon, Council members heard an update on the GEF-5 Programming, and on the GEF-6 replenishment. They also considered and approved the work programme and budget for the GEF Evaluation Office, and approved a decision for Mexico to host the fifth Assembly of the GEF.

1ENB Summary of the meeting in English and French now available (in HTML and in PDF format).

1Visit the full web daily coverage for Tuesday, 18 June 2013

 
Participants at the 44th meeting of the GEF Council
 
Matthew Kotchen, US
Margarita Perez Villaseñor, Mexico
Ryusuke Nakayama, Japan
 
Sean Batten, Australia
 
Rita Mishaan, FundaEco
 
Ali Mohammed, Kenya
 
L-R: Halima Kolo Mohammed, Nigeria; Anyaa Vohiri, Liberia; and Alimata Kone
Bakayoko
, Côte d'Ivoire

 
   
Participants from Mexico and Argentina
   
 
       
 
   
A view of the opening plenary of the GEF Council Consultation meeting with the CSOs.
   
 
 
Faizal Parish, GEF-NGO Network Central
Focal Point
 
Naoko Ishii, GEF CEO and Chairperson
 
 
L-R: Robert van den Berg, GEF Secretariat; Essam Nada, Regional Focal Point for North African region, GEF-NGO Network,
and Pillar Barrera, GEF Secretariat
 
Faizal Parish, GEF-NGO Network Central Focal Point, summarized the day's consultations and closed
the consultation at 4:38 pm.
 
 
 
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