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.