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.