Least Developed Countries

On the final day of the 51st meeting of the Council of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), Council members, following revisions by the GEF Secretariat, adopted decisions on recommendations of the Working Group on Public Involvement, and on monitoring agency compliance with GEF policies. The Council also set up an Ad Hoc Working Group to produce a draft policy on ethics and conflict of interest for Council members, following recommendations by Transparency International (TI). The GEF Secretariat explained that other TI recommendations, such as access to information disclosure, whistleblower protection and observer participation in Council meetings, will be dealt with in the forthcoming update to the Public Involvement Policy (PIP). Participants then convened for the 21st meeting of the Council for the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF)/Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF) and considered an LDCF and SCCF progress report. At the conclusion of the meetings, Council members reviewed and approved the Joint Summary of the Chairs for the GEF Council and LDCF/SCCF meetings. As indicated in the Joint Summary for the GEF Council meeting, the Council approved its Work Program comprising 16 project concepts and three programmatic frameworks, with total resources amounting to US$301.91 million. The programmatic frameworks include Global Opportunities for Long-term Development (GOLD) of the Artisanal and Small Scale Gold Mining (ASGM) Sector to help artisanal and small scale miners access resources for technologies and technical assistance that will help eliminate or reduce the use of mercury in gold processing; and China’s Protected Area System Reform (C-PAR). At the close of the meeting, GEF CEO and Chairperson Naoko Ishii thanked Council members for their invitation to the GEF to be “bold and innovative,” which she said would be useful for GEF-7. Ishii closed the meeting at 1:48 pm. IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB+ Meeting Coverage, has provided daily web coverage from the GEF Council Consultation Meeting with CSOs, 51st GEF Council Meeting and 21st Meeting of the LDCF/SCCF Council. In addition, IISD Reporting Services has published a summary report in HTML and PDF. Photos by IISD/ENB | Francis Dejon For photo reprint permissions, please follow instructions at our Attribution Regulations for Meeting Photo Usage Page. Naoko Ishii, GEF CEO and Chairperson Co-Chair Carlos Raul Delgado, Mexico GEF Council approved the decision on developing a policy on ethics and conflict of interest for Council members William Ehlers, GEF Council Secretary Tosi Mpanu-Mpanu, LDC Chair in the UNFCCC process Participants heard a progress report on the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) Jozef Buys, Belgium Judith Gelbman, Canada Samuel Germain, Germany Mohamed-Yahya Lafdal-Chah, Mauritania Stafano Marco Schwager, Switzerland Josceline Wheatley, UK Hla Muang Thein, Myanmar Victor Kawanga, Vice Chair, GEF-CSO Network Farhan Akhtar, US Co-Chair Carlos Raul Delgado, Mexico, presided over review and adoption of the Joint Summary of the Chairs Subhash Chandra Garg, India Aize Azqueta Quemada, Spain Leonardo Martinez-Diaz, US Louis Léandre Ebobola Tsibah, Gabon Daniela Torres, Mexico Abdul Bakarr Salim, Sierra Leone GEF Secretariat conferring on how best to reflect Council member inputs to the decision on monitoring Agency compliance with GEF policies on environmental and social safeguards, gender and fiduciary standards Naoko Ishii, GEF CEO and Chairperson, delivering her closing remarks William Ehlers, GEF Council Secretary; Co-Chair Carlos Raul Delgado, Mexico; and Naoko Ishii, GEF CEO and Chairperson Naoko Ishii, GEF CEO and Chairperson, thanking Council members L-R: Franz Dejon; Dina Hestad; Elena Kosolapova; and Keith Ripley, ENB team at 51st GEF Council meeting

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.’ IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB+ Meeting Coverage, has provided daily web coverage from the GEF Council Consultation Meeting with CSOs, 51st GEF Council Meeting and 21st Meeting of the LDCF/SCCF Council. In addition, IISD Reporting Services has published a summary report in HTML and PDF. Photos by IISD/ENB | Francis Dejon For photo reprint permissions, please follow instructions at our Attribution Regulations for Meeting Photo Usage Page. Opening of the Meeting Naoko Ishii, GEF CEO and Chairperson, opened the 51st meeting of the GEF Council Carlos Raul Delgado, GEF Council Member, Mexico, was elected as Co-Chair for the meeting Carlos Raul Delgado, Co-Chair; Naoko Ishii, GEF CEO and Chairperson; and William Ehlers, GEF Council Secretary Philipp Knill, Germany Alix Thepot, France Weifang Yang, China Subhash Chandra Garg, India Priscilla Achakpa, GEF-CSO Network, RFP West Africa Paul Ralison, Madagascar Gustavo Fonseca, GEF Secratariat View of the STAP presentation Thomas Hammond, STAP Secretary, and Rosina Bierbaum, STAP Chair Nuritdin Inamov, Russian Federation Josceline Wheatley, UK Javad Momeni, Iran Herbert Acquay, GEF Secretariat Bruce Kijiner, Marshall Islands Jozef Buys, Belgium Mario Gustavo Mottin, Brazil L-R: Nana Janashia, Caucasus Environmental NGO Network (CENN), and Anastasiya Zhdanovich, Belarusian Environmental Movement Praveen Prasad Desabatla, World Bank Guri Sandberg, Norway Kees Rade, the Netherlands Rachna Ramsurn, Mauritius Mikael Eriksson, Sweden Stefan Marco Schwager, Switzerland Claus Pram Astrup, GEF Secretariat Chizuru Aoki, GEF Secretariat L-R: Midori Paxton and Adriana Dinu, UNDP, in collaboration with the GEF, launched ‘Voices of Impact: Speaking for the Global Commons’ and ‘Silent Roar: UNDP and GEF in the Snow Leopard Landscape’ during the 51st meeting of the GEF Council ‘Voices of Impact: Speaking for the Global Commons,’ introduced during the GEF Council meeting L-R: Yoko Watanabe, GEF Secretariat; Naoko Ishii, GEF CEO and Chairperson, with Adriana Dinu, Timothy Scott and Midori Paxton, UNDP, presenting ‘Silent Roar: UNDP and GEF in the Snow Leopard Landscape’