Highlights and images for 17 December 2024

On Tuesday, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Council debated proposals to streamline the project cycle submitted by a Council Working Group. Council Members also considered the evaluations and recommendations of the GEF Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) on: the GEF’s Results Based Management (RBM) Systems; GEF programs in Pacific small island developing States (SIDS); and the GEF chemicals and waste focal area. In addition, the IEO briefed Council Members on forthcoming evaluations through its Semi-Annual Evaluation Report.

On streamlining the GEF project cycle, the Council considered a comprehensive list of proposals that cover the GEF Secretariat, Implementing Agencies, and Operational Focal Points (OFPs). While Council Members welcomed the ambition and general thrust of the proposals, some raised concerns about the proposed implementation timetable and process and whether all the tradeoffs involved are well understood. After a lengthy debate, Members decided that the proposed decision would be revised for further discussion on Wednesday.

Regarding the IEO’s Semi-Annual Evaluation Report, IEO Director Geeta Batra outlined a series of reports due to be issued and/or presented to Council in 2025, including on nature-based solutions, socioeconomic co-benefits of GEF interventions, and an evaluation of GEF interventions in international waters. The IEO will also present in 2025 the Eighth Comprehensive Evaluation (OPS8) of the GEF, which will inform negotiations on the ninth replenishment of the GEF Trust Fund (GEF-9).

On chemicals and waste projects and programs, the IEO evaluation made four recommendations, namely to:

• strengthen the focus on policy and regulatory reforms, awareness, and communications;
• strengthen regulatory frameworks and further engagement with the broader private sector;
• ensure that investments in autoclaves, laboratory equipment, and other machinery for chemicals and waste management, associated with indigenous or imported technologies, are fully utilized; and
• integrate health co-benefit indicators into project designs and monitoring frameworks.

The Council endorsed the management response, which embraced all four recommendations.

Regarding Pacific SIDS, the IEO evaluation made three recommendations, namely to:

• enhance coordination and collaboration to maximize development impact and resource efficiency;
• strengthen program effectiveness by further improving the alignment and operational delivery between Pacific SIDS parent programs and their associated child projects; and
• prioritize robust institutional capacity development to ensure program success and enduring impact.

The Secretariat agreed with the first two recommendations and embraced three of five components of the third IEO recommendation, citing limited GEF influence over country-driven choices taken in the context of local cultural norms. One of the aspects the Secretariat did embrace was considering the accreditation of Pacific regional organizations as GEF Implementing Agencies, which the Secretariat suggested should be taken up during the GEF-9 replenishment negotiations. The Council endorsed the management response.

On RBM Systems, the IEO recommended that the GEF should:

• review its metrics for portfolio effectiveness and efficiency to ensure they remain relevant and aligned with ongoing reforms;
• enhance its results measurement framework to be able to track and report on systemic and transformative changes;
• prioritize developing user-friendly functionalities and features for the GEF Portal; and
• explicitly address fragile, conflict-affected, and violent contexts by developing targeted guidance for monitoring and evaluation practices in such contexts and ensuring that relevant indicators are incorporated into project design.

The Secretariat signaled full agreement with the last three recommendations, but only partial agreement regarding metrics, while noting that metrics reform will be considered in the context of the GEF-9 replenishment negotiations. The Council endorsed the management response.