Global Environment Facility

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) was established on the eve of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit to help tackle our planet's most pressing environmental problems. The GEF unites 184 countries in partnership with international institutions, civil society organizations (CSOs), and the private sector to address global environmental issues while supporting national sustainable development initiatives. Since 1992, the GEF has provided close to $20.5 billion in grants and mobilized an additional $112 billion in co-financing for more than 4,800 projects in 170 countries. Through its Small Grants Programme (SGP), the GEF has provided support to nearly 24,000 civil society and community initiatives in 133 countries.
An independently operating financial organization, the GEF provides grants for projects related to biodiversity, climate change, international waters, land degradation, the ozone layer, persistent organic pollutants (POPs), mercury, sustainable forest management, food security, sustainable cities.
The GEF also serves as financial mechanism for the following conventions:
The GEF, although not linked formally to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (MP), supports implementation of the Protocol in countries with economies in transition.
The Instrument for the Establishment of the Restructured GEF is the document that established the GEF after an initial pilot phase. It was accepted by the member countries and adopted by the Implementing Agencies in 1994. The Instrument may be considered the statutes and by-laws of the GEF, and contains provisions for the governance, participation, replenishment, and fiduciary and administrative operations of the GEF. It also lays out the roles and responsibilities of different actors in the GEF.
Structure.
The GEF has a unique governing structure organized around an Assembly, the Council, the Secretariat, 18 Agencies, a Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel (STAP), and the Evaluation Office.
History.
The Global Environment Facility was established in October 1992 as a $1 billion pilot program in the World Bank to assist in the protection of the global environment and to promote environmental sustainable development. The GEF would provide new and additional grants and concessional funding to cover the "incremental" or additional costs associated with transforming a project with national benefits into one with global environmental benefits.
The United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Environment Programme, and the World Bank were the three initial partners implementing GEF projects.
In 1992, at the Rio Earth Summit, the GEF was restructured and moved out of the World Bank system to become a permanent, separate institution. The decision to make the GEF an independent organization enhanced the involvement of developing countries in the decision-making process and in implementation of the projects. Since 1994, however, the World Bank has served as the Trustee of the GEF Trust Fund and provided administrative services.
As part of the restructuring, the GEF was entrusted to become the financial mechanism for both the UN Convention on Biological Diversity and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. In partnership with The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, the GEF started funding projects that enable the Russian Federation and nations in Eastern Europe and Central Asia to phase out their use of ozone-destroying chemicals.
In 1998, the GEF Council decided to expand beyond the initial three Implementing Agencies, including the International Finance Corporation, to broaden its ability to enable innovating financing mechanisms and better leverage private sector investment. The GEF subsequently was also selected to serve as financial mechanism for three more international conventions: The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (2001), the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (2003), and the Minamata Convention on Mercury (2013).
Areas of work.
The GEF work focuses on six main areas, including biodiversity, climate change (mitigation and adaptation), chemicals and waste, international waters, land degradation, sustainable forest management/REDD+.
Biodiversity: Biodiversity is under heavy threat. Reducing and preventing further biodiversity loss are considered among the most critical challenges to humankind. Of all the problems the world faces in managing “global goods,” only the loss of biodiversity is irreversible. The GEF supports projects that address the key drivers of biodiversity loss which focus on the highest leveraging opportunities to achieve sustainable biodiversity conservation.
Climate change: Climate change from human-induced emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases (GHGs) is a critical global issue, requiring substantial action. These actions include investment to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, and adaptation to climate changes including variability. The early impacts of climate change have already appeared, and scientists believe that further impacts are inevitable. Many of the most serious and negative impacts of climate change will be disproportionately borne by the poorest people in developing countries. The GEF supports projects in developing countries.
Chemicals: Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are pesticides, industrial chemicals, or unwanted by-products of industrial processes that have been used for decades but have more recently been found to share a number of disturbing characteristics, including:
The GEF supports projects in eliminating the production and use of specific POPs, taking measures to ensure that POPs wastes are managed and disposed of in an environmentally sound manner, identifying the sources, and reducing releases of POPs byproducts.
Circular Economy: GEF has issued a "background note" and hosted events on the circular economy, which shifts from a take-make-waste economy to one that seeks to use no non-renewable source materials and produce zero waste. GEF is a member of the Platform for Accelerating the Circular Economy (PACE), for which GEF's CEO, Naoko Ishii, is the co-chair of the Board of Directors along with Frans van Houten of Royal Philips and a representative of UNEP.
International waters: Diversions of water for irrigation, bulk supply, and potable use, together with the pollution of common water bodies are creating cross-border tensions. These tensions also persist across the oceans, with three-quarters of fish stocks being overfished, fished at their maximum, or in a depleted state. The GEF supports projects in helping countries work together to overcome these tensions in large water systems and to collectively manage their transboundary surface water basins, groundwater basins, and coastal and marine systems in order to share the benefits from them.
Land degradation: Land degradation is a major threat to biodiversity, ecosystem stability, and society's ability to function. Because of the interconnectivity between ecosystems across scales, land degradation triggers destructive processes that can have cascading effects across the entire biosphere. Loss of biomass through vegetation clearance and increased soil erosion produces greenhouse gases that contribute global warming and climate change. The GEF supports projects in reversing and preventing desertification/land degradation and in mitigating the effects of drought in affected areas in order to support poverty reduction and environmental sustainability.
Sustainable forest management / REDD+: Forests cover almost one-third of the world's land area. They have a unique potential to produce multiple global environmental benefits such as biodiversity conservation, carbon sequestration, and protection against desertification. Sustainably managed forests can enhance the provision of wood and non-timber forest products for about 1.6 billion people depending on forests for their livelihoods. Forest ecosystems are also expected to play a key role in helping people in developing countries to adapt to the effects of climate change. The GEF supports projects in forest conservation (primarily protected areas and buffer zones), sustainable use of forests (forest production landscapes, sustainable forest management), and addressing forests and trees in the wider landscape.
Ozone depletion: Increased UV-B radiation reaching the Earth would pose risks to human health and the environment. In response, countries negotiated and adopted the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer in 1985, and the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer in 1987. The GEF supports projects in developing countries and countries with economies in transition (CEITs) that are not eligible for funding under the Multilateral Fund of the Montreal Protocol, to implement activities to phase out ozone depleting substances (ODS) in a manner consistent with these countries’ obligations under the Montreal Protocol.
Besides these seven areas, the GEF has also worked on other programs including:
Small Grants Programme.
The GEF runs a Small Grants Programme that provides financial and technical support to projects which embody a community-based approach. The GEF sees community based projects as the cornerstone for addressing local and global environmental and sustainable development challenges.