Global Environment Facility (GEF) Council Consultation Meeting with Civil Society Organization (CSOs), 51st GEF Council Meeting and 21st Meeting of the Least Developed Countries Fund
and the Special Climate Change Fund (LDCF/SCCF) Council

Visit the full ENB+ web coverage for Wednesday, 26 October 2016

The second day of the 51st meeting of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Council began with a discussion on monitoring agency compliance with GEF policies on environmental and social safeguards, gender, and fiduciary standards. The Council deferred the final decision on the issue until Thursday.

During the morning, the Council also discussed the Semi-Annual Evaluation Report October 2016 and management response to the report. Council members considered two completed evaluation reports: ‘International Waters Focal Area Study’ and ‘Value for Money Analysis for the Land Degradation Projects of the GEF.’ Juha Uitto, Director, Independent Evaluation Office (IEO), outlined the IEO’s ongoing evaluations, including: ‘GEF Engagement with the Private Sector,’ ‘Chemicals and Waste Focal Area Study,’ and ‘GEF Role in Supporting Legal and Regulatory Reform in Countries,’ as well as work on recently started or upcoming evaluations.

At the beginning of their afternoon deliberations, the Council discussed relations with the conventions and other international institutions, and memoranda of understanding with the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and the Minamata Convention on Mercury. The Council heard presentations by the Executive Secretary of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions, and the Principal Coordinator of the Interim Secretariat of the Minamata Convention on Mercury, as well as interventions from representatives of the Secretariats of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the UNCCD, relating to GEF activities in support of their respective multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs).

The Council concluded the day with a discussion of recommendations from the Working Group on Public Involvement. The final decision on the issue was deferred until Thursday.

Visit the full ENB+ web coverage for Tuesday, 25 October 2016

On Tuesday, 25 October 2016, Naoko Ishii, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chairperson of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), opened the 51st meeting of the GEF Council with the launch of the publication ‘25 Years of the GEF’ outlining the GEF’s accomplishments over the past 25 years and the way forward. Carlos Raul Delgado (Mexico, Council Member for the constituency of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama and Venezuela) was elected Co-Chair for the 51st meeting of the GEF Council.

During their first substantive discussion of the 51st meeting, the GEF Council exchanged views on the Annual Portfolio Monitoring Report 2016. Council members welcomed the updated GEF Corporate Scorecard annexed to the report and made suggestions for its improvement by, inter alia: including indicators on monitoring and evaluation; developing indicators on the degree of innovation and risk involved across the portfolios; and developing sustainability indicators.

Council members also heard the report of Rosina Bierbaum, Chair, Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel (STAP). Bierbaum outlined STAP’s report titled ‘Governance Challenges, Gaps and Management Opportunities in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ),’ suggesting that the GEF consider emerging issues, including: enhancing knowledge; supporting high-impact demonstration projects; supporting areas-based planning and management tools; and building technical capacity in small island developing States (SIDS) and least developed countries (LDCs).

Additional agenda items discussed on the first day of the Council’s 51st meeting included: update on the projected resource availability from the sixth replenishment of the GEF Trust Fund (GEF-6); work program for the GEF Trust Fund; seventh replenishment of the GEF Trust Fund (GEF-7); and an update on the Capacity-building Initiative for Transparency (CBIT).

In the afternoon, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the GEF launched two reports: ‘Voices of Impact: Speaking for the Global Commons,’ and ‘Silent Roar: UNDP and GEF in the Snow Leopard Landscape.’

Visit the full ENB+ web coverage for Monday, 24 October 2016

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) Council Consultation meeting with Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) took place on 24 October 2016, the day before the opening of the 51st meeting of the GEF Council. The CSO consultation included a dialogue with the GEF CEO and Chairperson Naoko Ishii, and discussions on: strengthening CSO engagement in the GEF; the role CSOs play in the GEF through the GEF-CSO Network; and CSOs’ vision for the seventh replenishment of the GEF Trust Fund (GEF-7).