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Global Environment Facility GEF,
a funding facility was incepted in response to the growing need
to counter four environmental threats man is facing; Bio diversity,
Climate change, degradation of international waters, and ozone depletion. Following
a three-year pilot phase (1991 - 1994), the Global Environment Facility
was formally launched to forge cooperation and finance actions addressing
these four critical threats to the world. Activities concerning
land degradation, primarily desertification and deforestation
as they relate to these critical threats, are also addressed.
The only new funding source to emerge from the
1992 Earth Summit, GEF today counts 171 countries as members (participating
states). As of February 2002, GEF has allocated $4.2 billion
in grant financing, supplemented by more than $11 billion in additional
financing, for 1040 projects in 160 developing nations and countries
with economies in transition. Pakistan has contributed approximately
$ 1.14 m to the GEF to put in towards protecting the global environment
for projects in Pakistan
GEF capitalizes on the operational capacities of
three implementing agencies
-- the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP), U.N. Environment Programme
(UNEP), and World Bank -- that play key roles in managing GEF-financed
activities. These organizations contribute expertise to GEF within
their respective spheres of competence and facilitate cooperation
in implementing GEF-financed activities through a broad range of
executing agencies.
UNDP is primarily responsible for implementing
technical assistance and capacity building projects and responsible
in catalyzing the development of scientific and technical analysis
and advancing environmental management in GEF- financed activities.
The World Bank is primarily responsible
for developing and implementing investment projects.
UNEP specializes in environmental assessments,
gap analysis, and projects that generate knowledge that can help
further environmental management interventions; projects that develop
and /or test tools and methods for furthering environmental management
or that demonstrate a particular approach; projects that entail
management of transboundary ecosystems.
Other than the "Implementing Agencies",
other regional development banks have also been accorded opportunities
to work directly with the GEF on Project preparation and implementation
having access to PDF-B resources. These executing agencies include:
Organization and Actors of the GEF
The GEF institutional structure is rather intricate. The actors
in this structure include:
The Assembly is made up of all the countries
participating in the GEF. Any country may participate however there
is an expectation that richer countries will make some form of financial
commitment. Although there is no definition of government participation,
to be a participant basically means being allowed to participate
in the decision-making and governance of the GEF. The Assembly meets
every three years to review the policies and operations of the Facility
on the basis of reports from the Council. It is also the forum for
taking decisions on amendments to the Instrument.
The Council is the main governing body and it meets twice
a year and makes decisions about policy and operational matters.
The Council must take into account the reviews of the Assembly.
When the GEF operates as a financial mechanism for the Framework
Convention on Climate Change and the Convention on Biological Diversity,
the Council must follow the guidance from the Conference of Parties
(COP) of these conventions. The Council must also report back to
the parties on the activities carried out under the financial mechanisms.
The GEF is not the financial mechanism for the Montreal Protocol,
however it still co-operates with its Conference of Parties.
The Council consists of representatives of thirty-two Constituencies:
eighteen Council members are from recipient countries and fourteen
from non-recipient (developed) countries. Some Constituencies have
a mixture of donor and recipient countries. For example Austria
and Luxembourg with the recipient countries of the Czech Republic,
Hungary, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, and Turkey are all in the
same constituency. Each Council member serves for three years, or
until a new Member is appointed by the constituency.
The eighteen recipient countries Constituencies
are distributed as follows: six for Africa, six for the Asia/Pacific
region, and four For Latin America and the Caribbean. These Constituencies
are formed through consultations among these countries, taking into
account a number of criteria, which include (i) equitable and balanced
epresentation, (ii) common environmental concerns; (iii) policies
toward sustainable development; (iv) natural resource endowment
and environmental vulnerability; and (v) contributions to the Facility.
In addition to Pakistan, countries included in its constituency
are Afghanistan, Jordan, Lebanon and Yemen
The 14 non-recipient Constituencies are also formed
through consultations, but the main criterion is contributions to
the GEF: a country giving a relatively large contribution may have
a constituency to itself.
Decisions are usually taken by consensus. If a vote were
ever necessary, it would be done on a country rather than constituency
basis. A double majority system is used; a majority of donors and
a majority of countries is needed for a proposal to pass. This system
gives the possibility of a veto to both the recipient and donor
countries
Council meetings are co-chaired by an elected Council member and
the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). The elected co-Chairship alternates
between donor and recipient governments. The nomination and vote
for the elected co-Chairperson occurs at the start of each meeting.
In practice informal consultations are held a few weeks preceding
the Council meeting to nominate the co-Chair. This arrangement gives
the CEO inherent powers.
Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are now able to observe
Council meetings. Only ten representatives are allowed so there
is a selection procedure.
The Secretariat serves and reports to the Assembly and Council.
A Chief Executive Officer (CEO) heads the secretariat. The CEO is
accountable to the Council. The Secretariat coordinates the implementation
of GEF activities such as projects and programmes, as well as the
formulation of policies and operational strategies. It has an important
role in the project cycle. The Secretariat is located in the offices
of the World Rank but in practice is independent from it. The GEF
Secretariat is responsible for coordinating the formulation and
overseeing the implementation of programme activities, policy, and
services and reports to the GEF Assembly and Council. The GEF also
acts as the interim funding mechanism for the Convention on Biological
Diversity, (CBD), and the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change, (UNFCCC) and the Stockholm Convention on Persistent
Organic Pollutants (POPs).
The Implementing
Agencies (IAs) are responsible for developing projects for
GEF funding and then implementing them, through executing agencies.
The term 'implementing' comes from the Pilot Phase days, with the
idea that these agencies would "implement the GGF. These are the
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP'), the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP), and the World Bank. The IAs also provide
input on policies and programmes. They are accountable to the Council.
The IAs, through their task manager work closely with the executing
agencies, which are responsible for the day to day operations of
individual projects. These could be government bodies, or other
UN agencies. Sometimes there may be an NGO involved in a partnership
with the executing agency. In other cases the private sector may
be involved. The different IAs are expected to handle projects within
their area of competence. For example the World Bank deals more
with investment projects, while UNDP' handles technical assistance
type projects. In practice there is some overlap.
The Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel
(STAP) is a group of internationally recognized experts whose
main role is to provide advice on GEF policies, operational strategies,
and programmes. It may review selected projects, but does not examine
each one. The constitution of the STAP relates to the choosing,
developing, and implementing of GEF projects. Therefore many of
STAP 's members have project as well as purely scientific expertise.
The STAP maintains a Roster of Experts and all projects must be
reviewed by someone on this list.
The GEF Operations Committee (GEFOP) is
the forum through which the Secretariat discusses projects and policies
with other actors in the GFP. It consists of people working in the
Secretariat, members of IAs, and STAP, representatives. As necessary,
representatives from the relevant convention Secretariat participate,
either in person or through a conference call.
Trustee of the GEF's money. The Trustee
is the World Bank and "money bank" is called the GEF Trust
Fund. The role of the World Rank as a trustee is independent from
its role as an Implementing Agency. As a trustee, it basically helps
with fund raising, accounting, and financial management of the Fund.
The reason for this arrangement was to avoid having to create a
new financial bureaucracy and independent legal structure.
For more information on GEF, kindly click here
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