GEF Consultation with Civil Society - Operationalizing the GEF Whole of Society Approach: Enhancing engagement and support to Civil Society in GEF-9

Opening

Opening the consultation, Gabriella Richardson Temm, Senior Operations Officer, GEF Secretariat, noted participants would discuss and explore ideas to operationalize the GEF’s whole-of-society approach in order to expand its engagement and support to civil society. She stressed the consultation would be forward looking towards the ninth replenishment cycle of the GEF (GEF-9) but will also build on lessons learned and initiatives launched in recent years.

Overview of Technical Advisory Group Findings and GEF-9 Programming Directions

Adriana Moreira, Lead, Partnerships Division, provided an overview of the GEF’s approach to CSO engagement, as well as efforts towards enhancing and broadening this engagement. She summarized entry points for civil society engagement, ranging from consultations in project design and preparation to roles as partners and beneficiaries, and participation in GEF Council and Assembly meetings, among others. She also noted that the GEF Small Grants Program (SGP), Inclusive Conservation Initiative, and Fonseca Leadership Program are initiatives meant to enhance the participation of stakeholders, including Indigenous Peoples and youth.

On the vision for the next four-year cycle, Moreira highlighted the goal of increasing support provided to CSOs to at least 10% of total GEF-9 resources. She explained this would be achieved by expanding existing civil society-focused programs such as the SGP and Fonseca Program, and by mainstreaming a whole-of-society approach into all GEF programming and implementation.

Sagar Aryal, GEF CSO Network and Chief Technology Officer, Plant-for-the-Planet, presented the CSO Network proposals for GEF-9, including:

• allocating at least 10% of GEF-9 funds directly to CSOs, including Indigenous Peoples and local communities, youth and women;
• ensuring each GEF program adopts a clear strategy to engage Indigenous Peoples;
• creating a best practices award for civil society-government collaboration; and
• tracking stronger indicators for CSO involvement. 

Aryal emphasized that a whole-of-society approach is about shifting power and stressed the GEF CSO Network is ready to co-lead this transformation.

Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, GEF CEO and Chairperson, emphasized the value of a whole-of-society approach for GEF implementation. He highlighted that a new division in the GEF focuses on its work with non-state actors and said it is important to work with a variety of ministries, not just environment ministries. He noted that CSOs have a role in ensuring their governments implement the decisions they take at conferences of the parties to the various conventions.

In a question-and-answer session with Rodríguez, participants discussed, among other things:

• how to connect government and civil society, mainly to provide real benefits for Indigenous communities;
• the importance of mobilizing resources “towards every single group that is part of the sustainable solution;”
• the need to showcase positive and successful practices to generate long-term partnerships;
• the importance of incorporating education to achieve sustainability; and
• the necessity for civil society to engage with their governments to increase accountability and transparency in decision making.

Rodríguez emphasized the importance of GEF-9 adopting a systemic approach that focuses not only on increasing resources, but also on promoting greater integration and inclusion. He highlighted the need to develop a roadmap for the whole-of-society approach in conjunction with GEF programs. He underscored the critical role of civil society as a guarantor of the rule of law and called on civil society to refocus its narrative and ensure that the Global North fulfills the financial commitments it has made.

Facilitated Conversation on the GEF’s Whole-of-Society Approach and Targeted Civil Society Engagement in GEF-9

Faizal Parish, Chair, GEF CSO Network, moderated this session which focused on good practices, lessons learned, and opportunities for mainstreaming whole-of-society and community-based approaches in GEF programming and implementation.

Jennifer Tauli Corpuz, Fellow and Strategic Advisor, Nia Tero, urged transformative action that considers Indigenous Peoples’ needs. She called for integrating into the GEF’s work the indicator on land-use change and land tenure in the traditional territories of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, recently adopted under the Convention on Biological Diversity. Corpuz also highlighted the plight of environmental defenders and called for “protecting those that protect nature.”

Arturo Arreola, Focal Point for Mesoamerica, GEF CSO Network, lamented that CSOs face reduced access to financing and many are now shutting down. He highlighted the need to increase civil society’s capacity to receive the 10% of GEF-9 resources intended to be provided to it and called for prioritizing social inclusion.

Mailes Zulu Muke, Save Environment and People Agency, Zambia, emphasized the need to address barriers that women face in implementing solutions on the ground, including lack of access to finance and capacity building, and exclusion from dialogues about solutions.

Darien Castro, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador and Wings for Amazon EC, noted that climate education can be empowering, stressed the importance of creating spaces for innovative ideas, and called attention to the need to address health issues.

Jon Barnett, GEF Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel (STAP), Australia, stressed that GEF projects must involve local communities’ perspectives, given that implementation takes place on the “ground,” which is typically under local community ownership. He highlighted that local communities know their environments in ways that science and modeling cannot, and said GEF projects have an incomplete evidence base if they do not engage with communities.

In a subsequent interactive engagement session conducted via on-line polls, participants identified key opportunities and recommendations. Among the values that local communities and civil societies bring to conservation efforts, participants recognized “local knowledge” as the key value, followed by “stewardship” and “sustainability.” Regarding which areas should be prioritized to operationalize the whole-of-society approach in GEF-9, most participants favored the mandatory inclusion of civil society in government-led GEF projects, along with directing 10% of GEF resources to CSOs and Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPLCs).

A high level of optimism was noted regarding GEF-9’s potential to enable more inclusive civil society participation, with approximately 50% being very optimistic and 34% somewhat optimistic. When asked about the most empowering support for participation in GEF-9, participants indicated mainly “direct funding,” followed by “technical assistance” and “capacity building.”

Regarding what the GEF should do to enable the whole-of-society approach, panelists called for including and empowering CSOs, as well as improved collaboration among different stakeholders. They further emphasized the need to enhance CSO capacity, build coalitions within society, maintain innovation capacity, increase resources for Indigenous Peoples, and diversify methods of inclusion and collaboration with Indigenous communities. One participant noted that funds going through ministries of environment often have limited impact on the ground. Calling for funds to be provided directly to civil society, he gave the example of the Central African Forest Initiative, which previously only worked with governments and international organizations but this year started working directly with civil society.

Wrapping up the session, Parish highlighted the need for increased civil society engagement, better collaboration among CSOs such as youth working with other stakeholder groups, and a paradigm shift to a whole-of-society and whole-of-government approach.

Moreira closed the meeting by thanking participants for their active engagement.