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Global Environment Facility (GEF) Council Consultation Meeting with Civil Society Organization (CSOs), 52nd GEF Council Meeting and 22nd Meeting of the Least Developed Countries Fund and the Special Climate Change Fund (LDCF/SCCF) Council

22-25 May 2017 | World Bank headquarters, Washington, DC, US

Summary Highlights

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Naoko Ishii, GEF CEO and Chairperson, and Philipp Knill, Council Co-Chair

Highlights for Thursday, 25 May

On Thursday morning,25 May, the Council considered other business. On social and environmental safeguards, several Council members stressed the importance of having a codified set of guidelines and policies in a single document. The Council adopted a decision requesting the Secretariat to prepare a plan to review the GEF’s Social and Environmental Safeguards. The Council also requested the Secretariat to present a plan to review the GEF’s Fiduciary Standards.

Participants then convened for the 22nd meeting of the Council for the Least Developed Countries Fund and Special Climate Change Fund (LDCF/SCCF) and considered: a progress report, Annual Monitoring Review for fiscal year 2016, 2016 Annual Evaluation Report of the Funds, the program evaluation of the SCCF and management response, as well as work programs and budgets for 2018.

At the end of the session, Council members received a draft Joint Summary of the Co-Chairs for the GEF Council and LDCF/SCCF Council meetings, both of which included the decisions they had adopted during the meetings. The Council adopted both the Joint Summary of the Chairs for the 52nd meeting of the GEF Council and 22nd meeting of the LDCF/SCCF Council.

In closing, Co-Chair Philipp Knill thanked participants for their spirit of collaboration. GEF CEO and Chairperson Naoko Ishii thanked Council members and CSO representatives for their input and a rich discussion, and closed the meeting at 12:22 pm.

See full web coverage for Thursday, 25 May

IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB+ Meeting Coverage, has provided daily web coverage from the GEF Council Consultation Meeting with CSOs. In addition, IISD Reporting Services, has produced a summary report from the 52nd GEF Council Meeting and 22nd Meeting of the LDCF/SCCF Council, which is abailable in HTML and PDF.

Photos by IISD/ENB | Leila Mead
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A view of the room during the LDCF/SCCF Council meeting

Gebru Jember Endalew, Ethiopia, speaking for the LDC Group

Anna Birgitta Viggh, IEO

A view of the room

Gustavo Fonseca, GEF Secretariat (right), presenting during the LDCF/SCCF Council meeting

Applause following the conclusion of the GEF

Highlights for Wednesday, 24 May

The second day of the 52nd meeting of the GEF Council, Wednesday, 24 May, began with a briefing by Rosina Bierbaum, Chair, Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel (STAP). Bierbaum highlighted good practices in integrated approach pilots (IAPs) and improvements in project identification forms in multi-focal areas. She identified opportunities for the GEF to promote innovation, including through financial products, technology, business models, market transformation and policies. Among emerging challenges, Bierbaum stressed: sustainable consumption and production for food systems and plastics; environmental security; and “novel entities,” such as nanomaterials, synthetic biology and new chemicals. In the ensuing discussion, Council members, inter alia, highlighted overlaps between STAP and the Independent Evaluation Office (IEO), and asked STAP for inclusion of sand and dust storms as an emerging issue.

During the morning session, the Council also considered the Semi-Annual Evaluation Report May 2017, which summarizes key conclusions from nine evaluations, including on programmatic approaches, focal areas, gender mainstreaming and transformational change, completed between October 2016 and May 2017.

In the afternoon, the Council discussed Relations with the Conventions and other International Institutions, with presentations by the Executive Secretaries from the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), as well as the Principal Coordinator of the Interim Secretariat of the Minamata Convention on Mercury. Many Council members underscored synergies and complementarity among the GEF Conventions.

The Council concluded the day with a discussion on tackling global environmental challenges through IAPs.

See the full web coverage for Wednesday, 24 May

Rosina Bierbaum, STAP Chair, Naoko Ishii, GEF CEO and Chairperson, Philipp Knill, Council Co-Chair, and William Ehlers, GEF Secretariat

A view of the room during the presentation of the report of the STAP Chair

Rosina Bierbaum, STAP Chair, noting its adaptation to the environment and innovative targeted approach, proposes pistol shrimp (Alpheidae) as a mascot for the GEF.

Francoise Clottes, GEF Secretariat, Geeta Batra, IEO, and Juha Ilari Uitto, Director, IEO, during the presentation of the Semi-Annual Evaluation Report and management response

Cristiana Pașca Palmer, Executive Secretary, CBD, addresses the Council during a session on Relations with the Conventions and other International Institutions

Rolph Payet, Executive Secretary, Stockholm Convention on POPs

Monique Barbut, Executive Secretary, UNCCD

Council member Stefan Marco Schwager, Switzerland

Jacob Duer, Principal Coordinator, Interim Secretariat of the Minamata Convention

A view of the room during the session on Tackling Global Environmental Challenges through the IAP Programs and the presentation of Ede Jorge Ijjasz-Vasquez, World Bank, who discussed the Global Platform for Sustainable Cities

Andrew Bovarnick, UN Development Programme

Margarita Astralaga, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)

Highlights from Tuesday, 23 May

On Tuesday, 23 May 2017, Naoko Ishii, GEF CEO and Chairperson, opened the 52nd meeting of the GEF Council, noting that, in light of continuing environmental degradation, businesses now recognize environmental risk among the top five risks they face. Noting that the green energy revolution “seems to have reached the point of no return,” Ishii stressed the GEF’s role in helping achieve momentum for the transformation of key economic systems driving environmental degradation. Philipp Knill (Germany) was elected Co-Chair for the 52nd meeting of the GEF Council. Knill introduced the agenda, which the Council adopted.
 
Naoko Ishii updated the Council on the GEF 2020 Strategy. She highlighted: showcasing best practices on the ground; the GEF’s role in the “niches” of environmental finance architecture, including funding pilot activities in energy efficiency and support for enhanced climate action through the Capacity-building Initiative for Transparency (CBIT) established under the Paris Agreement; and the revised GEF policies on institutional efficiency and gender issues. Council members discussed these and other issues, stressing the need to align the GEF 2020 Strategy with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Additional agenda items discussed on the first day of the Council’s 52nd meeting included: an update on the seventh replenishment of the GEF Trust Fund; the proposed policy on ethics and conflict of interest for Council members, alternates and advisers; the GEF business plan and corporate budget for fiscal year 2018; the Work Program; and an updated vision of the GEF relationship with the civil society.

See the full web coverage for Tuesday, 23 May

GEF Secretariat members consulting with GEF CEO and Chairperson Naoko Ishii (center) and Council Co-Chair Philipp Knill (right)

GEF CEO and Chairperson Naoko Ishii

Philipp Knill, 52nd GEF Council Co-Chair, Germany

Subhash Chandra Garg, Council member, India

Council members Peter Wisner, US, and Josceline Wheatley, UK

Council member Caroline Eugene, Saint Lucia

Council member Mitsutoshi Kajikawa, Japan

A view of the dais during the session on the GEF Business Plan and Corporate Budget for fiscal year: Peter Lallas, GEF Secretariat, Edward Mountfield, World Bank, Juha Ilari Uitto, GEF Independent Evaluation Office (IEO), Naoko Ishii, GEF CEO and Chairperson, Philipp Knill, Council Co-Chair, and William Ehlers, GEF Council Secretary

Juha Ilari Uitto, GEF IEO

Edward Mountfield, World Bank

Highlights from Monday, 22 May

The GEF Council Consultation meeting with CSOs took place on 22 May 2017, the day before the opening of the 52nd meeting of the GEF Council. The CSO consultation included a dialogue with the GEF CEO and Chairperson Naoko Ishii, and discussions on: the road towards the seventh replenishment of the GEF Trust Fund (GEF-7); and enhancing the relationship between the GEF and civil society.

A dialogue with Secretariats of Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) and the fourth meeting of the Working Group on Implementation of the GEF Public Involvement Policy convened throughout the day.

See the full web coverage for Monday, 22 May

A view of the dais during the session (L-R): Baljit Wadhwa, GEF IEO; Lucy Mulenkei, Chair, IPAG; Session Co-Moderators Fiu Mataese Elisara, RFP Pacific, GEF CSO Network, and Patricia Turpin, RFP Caribbean, GEF CSO Network; Yoko Watanabe, SGP Global Manager; Tanyaradzwa Mundoga, GEF Council Member, Zimbabwe; and Olga Speranskaya, IPEN

GEF CEO and Chairperson Naoko Ishii

Victor Kawanga, Vice-Chair of the GEF-CSO Network, and Gustavo Fonseca, GEF Secretariat

Wouter Veening, Institute for Environmental Security, intervenes during the dialogue.

Lisa Elges, Transparency International EU, during the dialogue

Lucy Mulenkei, Chair, IPAG

Tanyaradzwa Mundoga, GEF Council Member, Zimbabwe

L-R: Nana Janashia, Caucasus Environmental NGO Network; Peter Wisner, GEF Council Member, US; and Ramon Cruz, Institute for Transportation and Development Policy

GEF Council member Mitsutoshi Kajikawa, Japan, Naoko Ishii, GEF CEO and Chairperson, Caryn McClelland, Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, US Department of State, Carlos Gianelli Derois, Uruguayan Ambassador to the US, Gustavo Fonseca, GEF Secretariat, and Jacob Duer, Principal Coordinator, Interim Secretariat of the Minamata Convention

Funding for coverage of the GEF Council Consultation Meeting with CSOs, 52nd GEF Council Meeting
and 22nd Meeting of the LDCF/SCCF Council has been provided by the GEF Secretariat
GEF