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48th Global Environment Facility (GEF) Council Meeting

2-4 June 2015 | Washington, DC, US


Highlights for Tuesday, 2 June 2015

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Daily Web CoverageAbout | 1 Jun | 2 Jun | 3 Jun | 4 Jun | Summary

A view of the opening plenary of the 48th meeting of the GEF Council

On Tuesday, 2 June 2015, Naoko Ishii, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chairperson of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), opened the 48th meeting of the GEF Council and introduced the agenda, noting that the Council needs to evaluate if the GEF is on the right track in the context of a rapidly changing global context, with major decisions expected during 2015 at the Third Conference on Financing for Development (FfD3), the post-2015 development agenda including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the new climate regime.

Leander Treppel (Austria; Council member for Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Hungary, Luxembourg, Slovak Republic, Slovenia and Turkey) was elected as Co-Chair of the meeting.

In the morning, the Council discussed the implementation of the GEF 2020 strategy. Opening the discussion, CEO Ishii highlighted the global context in which GEF 2020 must operate, and highlighted four tracks for delivery of the GEF 2020 vision: strong emphasis on integrated and innovative programming; enhanced strategic country engagement; sharper definition of the GEF’s “niche” in global environmental financing; and ensuring effectiveness and efficiency of the GEF partnership. Guest speaker Jeff Seabright, Chief Sustainability Officer, Unilever, spoke on the role of the private sector in reversing environmental degradation. He called for using the energy, innovation, capital and scale of the private sector to achieve transformational change by working to overcome barriers to investment.

GEF Council Members also discussed agenda items on: the Annual Monitoring Review; the GEF Business Plan and FY16 Corporate Budget; the Four-Year Work Program and Budget of the GEF Independent Evaluation Office; GEF Agency Compliance with Policies on Environmental and Social Safeguards, Gender and Fiduciary Standards; and Expediting the Preparation of the Stock of Delayed Projects.

IISD Reporting Services provided daily web coverage and a summary the GEF Council Consultation Meeting with Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), the 48th meeting of the GEF Council and the LDCF/SCCF 18th Council Meeting. Our summary report from these events is available in HTML or PDF format.


Opening of the Meeting

Naoko Ishii, GEF CEO and Chairperson, opened the 48th meeting of the GEF Council


L-R: William Ehlers, GEF Secretariat; Naoko Ishii, GEF CEO and Chairperson; and
Co-Chair Leander Treppel, Austria




Nasir Khosa, Pakistan

Philipp Knill, Germany

Kees Rade, the Netherlands

GEF 2020 Implementation

Naoko Ishii, GEF CEO and Chairperson, presented an update on implementation of the GEF 2020 strategy.


Kolleh Bangura, Sierra Leone

Caroline Leclerc, Canada

Anders Wallberg, Sweden


Faizal Parish, Central Focal Point, GEF-CSO Network

The Role of the Private Sector in Reversing Environmental Degradation

Jeff Seabright, Chief Sustainability Officer, Unilever



Abdul Matheen Mohammed, Maldives

Myra Patai, Cook Islands

Annual Monitoring Review (AMR) FY14

L-R: Yoko Watanabe, Senior Biodiversity Specialist, GEF Secretariat; Elwyn Grainger-Jones, Director, Policy and Country
Relations, GEF Secretariat; and Naoko Ishii, GEF CEO and Chairperson


Faafetai Alisi, CSO-GEF Network

Carlos Rodriguez Brianza, Uruguay

Anne Melgaard, Denmark

GEF Business Plan and FY16 Corporate Budget

Peter Lallas, Advisor to the GEF CEO, GEF Secretariat


Laura Palma, Italy

Fabien Gonguet, France

Usua Aize Azqueta Quemada, Spain

Four-Year Work Program and Budget of the GEF Independent Evaluation Office

Juha Uitto, Director, Independent Evaluation Office

GEF Agency Compliance with Policies on Environmental and
Social Safeguards, Gender, and Fiduciary Standards

Andrew Velthaus, Senior Policy Officer, GEF Secretariat



Clarence Severens, US

Priscilla Achakpa, CSO-GEF Network

Shuichi Hosoda, Japan


Clockwise: Delfin Ganapin, GEF Small Grants Programme (SGP); Ongatai Amosiah, Youth Environment Service;
Mrinalini Rai, GEF-Indigenous Peoples Advisory Group (GEF-IPAG); and Lucy Mulenkei, GEF-IPAG


Expediting the Preparation of the Stock of Delayed Projects

Stuart Calman, New Zealand, made an intervention regarding delayed projects.


Participants from the GEF-CSO Network in a coordination meeting.





Funding for coverage of the 48th meeting of the GEF Council
and LDCF/SCCF 18th Council Meeting has been provided by the GEF
GEF
Daily Web CoverageAbout | 1 Jun | 2 Jun | 3 Jun | 4 Jun | Summary