Summary
On the final day of the 51st meeting of the Council of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), Council members, following revisions by the GEF Secretariat, adopted decisions on recommendations of the Working Group on Public Involvement, and on monitoring agency compliance with GEF policies.
The Council also set up an Ad Hoc Working Group to produce a draft policy on ethics and conflict of interest for Council members, following recommendations by Transparency International (TI). The GEF Secretariat explained that other TI recommendations, such as access to information disclosure, whistleblower protection and observer participation in Council meetings, will be dealt with in the forthcoming update to the Public Involvement Policy (PIP).
Participants then convened for the 21st meeting of the Council for the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF)/Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF) and considered an LDCF and SCCF progress report.
At the conclusion of the meetings, Council members reviewed and approved the Joint Summary of the Chairs for the GEF Council and LDCF/SCCF meetings. As indicated in the Joint Summary for the GEF Council meeting, the Council approved its Work Program comprising 16 project concepts and three programmatic frameworks, with total resources amounting to US$301.91 million. The programmatic frameworks include Global Opportunities for Long-term Development (GOLD) of the Artisanal and Small Scale Gold Mining (ASGM) Sector to help artisanal and small scale miners access resources for technologies and technical assistance that will help eliminate or reduce the use of mercury in gold processing; and China’s Protected Area System Reform (C-PAR).
At the close of the meeting, GEF CEO and Chairperson Naoko Ishii thanked Council members for their invitation to the GEF to be “bold and innovative,” which she said would be useful for GEF-7. Ishii closed the meeting at 1:48 pm.
IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB+ Meeting Coverage, has provided daily web coverage from the GEF Council Consultation Meeting with CSOs, 51st GEF Council Meeting and 21st Meeting of the LDCF/SCCF Council. In addition, IISD Reporting Services has published a summary report in HTML and PDF.
Photos by IISD/ENB | Francis Dejon
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Naoko Ishii, GEF CEO and Chairperson
Co-Chair Carlos Raul Delgado, Mexico
GEF Council approved the decision on developing a policy on ethics and conflict of interest for Council members
William Ehlers, GEF Council Secretary
Tosi Mpanu-Mpanu, LDC Chair in the UNFCCC process
Participants heard a progress report on the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF)
Jozef Buys, Belgium
Judith Gelbman, Canada
Samuel Germain, Germany
Mohamed-Yahya Lafdal-Chah, Mauritania
Stafano Marco Schwager, Switzerland
Josceline Wheatley, UK
Hla Muang Thein, Myanmar
Victor Kawanga, Vice Chair, GEF-CSO
Network
Farhan Akhtar, US
Co-Chair Carlos Raul Delgado, Mexico, presided over review and adoption of the Joint Summary of the Chairs
Subhash Chandra Garg, India
Aize Azqueta Quemada, Spain
Leonardo Martinez-Diaz, US
Louis Léandre Ebobola Tsibah, Gabon
Daniela Torres, Mexico
Abdul Bakarr Salim, Sierra Leone
GEF Secretariat conferring on how best to reflect Council member inputs to the decision on monitoring Agency compliance
with
GEF policies on environmental and social safeguards, gender and fiduciary standards
Naoko Ishii, GEF CEO and Chairperson, delivering her closing remarks
William Ehlers, GEF Council Secretary; Co-Chair Carlos Raul Delgado, Mexico; and Naoko Ishii, GEF CEO and Chairperson
Naoko Ishii, GEF CEO and Chairperson, thanking Council members
L-R: Franz Dejon; Dina Hestad; Elena Kosolapova; and Keith Ripley,
ENB team at 51st GEF Council meeting