Global Environment Facility (GEF) Council Consultation Meeting with Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), GEF 49th Council Meeting and 19th Meeting of the Least Developed Countries Fund
and the Special Climate Change Fund (LDCF/SCCF) Council

The forty-ninth meeting of the GEF Council convened for the second day on Wednesday, 21 October 2015, at World Bank headquarters in Washington D.C. During the morning the Independent Evaluation office (IEO) presented the Semi-Annual Evaluation Report of the GEF Independent Evaluation Office: October 2015, which replaces former reports and simplifies reporting. The Impact Evaluation of GEF Support to Protected Areas (PA) and Protected Areas Systems was then presented, highlighting that GEF’s support to PAs and PA systems is making a positive difference. Five main recommendations include: ensuring that GEF support targets areas rich in global biodiversity; addressing the socio-economic conditions that will ensure local community commitment to biodiversity protection; investing in broader governance issues to address large-scale drivers; developing a more reliable and practical monitoring system to track and assess results at the project and portfolio levels; and investing in understanding what works and why. Council members then turned their attention to the Knowledge Management Needs Assessment, and Part I of the Annual Monitoring Review (AMR). On the AMR the GEF Secretariat observed that: GEF-6 is on track in terms of expected global results on environmental benefits; the ratio of planned co-financing for approved projects in GEF-6 is higher than the GEF-5 average; portfolios under implementation appear to be performing satisfactorily; and there is still room for improvement regarding first disbursements and methodologies for collecting information.

In the afternoon the Council considered the Work Program, and after a substantive discussion approved a Work Program for the GEF Trust Fund amounting to US$ 254.99 million. An Update on the Preparation of Integrated Approach Pilots was then addressed.