United Nations Organizations/Agencies

Global Environment Facility (GEF)

Objectives

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) was established in 1990 to provide new and additional financial resources to address global environmental issues in developing countries and economies in transition.

Membership

Approximately 160 countries are currently members of the GEF. The GEF's governing body is the Council, which has 32 seats allocated to constituencies (16 for developing country constituencies, 14 for developed countries and 2 for economies in transition). Canada has a full seat on the Council. CIDA leads the Canadian delegation to Council meetings, with advisors from Environment Canada and Foreign Affairs. An Assembly of all members takes place every three years, with the next one scheduled for 2006.

Activities

The GEF has six focal areas for funding — climate change, biodiversity, international waters, persisten organic pollutants, land degradation and ozone depleting substances in the economies in transition (former Soviet Bloc countries).

The GEF has already been designated by Parties as the financial mechanism for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Convention on Biological Diversity. As such, it is the mechanism through which donor countries meet their financial commitments to support developing countries in meeting the terms and conditions of these conventions. Recently, the GEF was designated as the financial mechanism for the Cartagena Biosafety Protocol under the Convention on Biological Diversity, as the interim financial mechanism for the Stockholm POPs Convention, and as a financial mechanism for the UN Convention to Combat Desertification.

Two important principles guide the funding of projects by the GEF: (1) the project would not otherwise be undertaken without GEF funds ("additionality"). In practice, this means that the GEF does not fund projects that have only domestic benefits, but will provide funds to support changes in the project or additional measures that would provide global environmental benefits in one of the four areas noted above. Interpretation of what constitutes additionality and incrementality is an on-going subject of debate, with recipients generally favouring a more liberal interpretation than the donor countries.

GEF funds are provided by contributing countries in cycles of replenishments of 4 years. The third GEF replenishment was concluded in 2002 with US$2.92 billion in resources. Canada's burden share in GEF II is 4.28%, which amounts to a contribution of approximately C $140 million, to be paid by CIDA over the four year period. Negotiations on the 4th Replenishment period are ongoing, with the expectation that they would be finalized in mid-2006. Replenishments are also typically accompanied by Policy Recommendations, which form the basic guidelines to the GEF during the replenishment period. Among the issues being discussed within the framework of GEF IV is the development of a Resource Allocation Framework, which is intended to provide additional performance monitoring and increased predictability in the allocation of resources to countries.

GEF projects are implemented primarily through the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and UNEP who act as Implementing Agencies. The Regional Development Banks, and other UN organizations, such as, the Food and Agriculture Organization FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) have recently been added as Executing Agencies of the GEF.

Environment Canada's Involvement

Environment Canada provides technical and scientific expertise and policy advice on the development and interpretation of the GEF's operational programs, which provide the framework for determining the eligibility of projects for funding. The Department also provides input to the relationship between the GEF and the Conferences of the Parties for the conventions that are served by the GEF, and on the role of UNEP as an implementing agency of the GEF. Environment Canada also responds to requests from CIDA for technical or scientific advice on specific project proposals.

For more information on the GEF, please go to its web site at: http://www.gefweb.org.