A Broad Coalition To Support the Global Environment

April 17, 2014— Naoko Ishii, CEO and Chairperson of the Global Environment Facility, today issued the following statement after 30 donor countries yesterday pledged US$ 4.43 billion for the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to support developing countries' efforts over the next four years to prevent degradation of the global environment.

 "I am very excited about the direction GEF is heading. I see a huge potential for the GEF to play an even greater role in fostering collective action among many different stakeholders to help solve global environmental problems", the CEO says in her message. "In particular, we will be piloting a set of new programs which aims to help the GEF better respond to some of the underlying drivers of environmental degradation. For example, we will do work on food security in Africa, focusing on how sustainable management of the soil and other natural resources can help improve both the environment and food security for African small holders. We will also work on sustainable supply chains and on sustainable cities, and many other critical issues. "

The funding will support projects in more than 140 countries to tackle a broad range of threats to the global environment, including climate change, deforestation, land degradation, extinction of species, toxic chemicals and waste, and threats to oceans and freshwater resources. The GEF is the main global mechanism to support developing countries' to take action to fulfill their commitments under the world's major multilateral environmental agreements. In GEF-6, donors agreed to new financing in support of the Minamata convention on Mercury that was signed in 2013, bringing to five the total number global environmental conventions that the GEF serves.

"The Global Environment Facility has gained the confidence of development partners for its strong track record in protecting the global environment and for its sound management of development partner funds," said Joachim von Amsberg, Vice President for Concessional Finance and Global Partnerships in the World Bank Group, which serves as Trustee for the GEF. "The environmental challenges the global community faces are significant, and funding for the GEF-6 program will help put us on a path toward our shared goal of sustainable development."

Donors emphasized GEF's role in supporting innovative and integrated solutions for the global environment. Among a number of innovations contained in GEF-6 is a new Integrated Approaches Pilot aimed at addressing environmental challenges by focusing on some of the underlying drivers of environmental degradation through special focus on for example food security in Africa, sustainable city development and on taking deforestation out of global commodity supply chains—all issues that can only be effectively addressed if broad coalitions of stakeholders across countries and sectors can be brought together around a common action agenda.

Mexico's Secretary of Finance and Public Credit, Luis Videgaray, who will host an Assembly of the GEF's 183 members in Cancun, Mexico, in May said, "Only by integrating environmental considerations into decision making by governments, private businesses and households can we hope to make a difference in the global environment. The GEF-6 effort gets under way at a critical time, and is a vital platform to help mobilize all stakeholders to play their part."

 The GEF-6 program envisions devoting an increased share of resources to lower-income recipient countries. GEF will also further its engagement with the private sector, its work in gender mainstreaming, collaboration with civil society organizations, and increased focus on results and on leveraging other sources of funding for the benefit of the global environment by seeking higher levels of co-financing of its projects.

Underpinning efforts, the GEF is developing a longer-term strategy, GEF2020, which aims to enhance the GEF's impact by focusing its interventions more on the underlying drivers of environmental degradation.

Doris Leuthard, head of the Swiss Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications that hosted the meeting in Geneva said "We have better scientific evidence that human activity can lead to tipping points with a risk of irreversible and abrupt environmental change. By focusing on the drivers of environmental change and by seeking multiple benefits, the GEF is taking the right approach to turn around the worrying trends in the global environment".

What our partners said...

2013-DG_LI_Yong_1038-V1_01.jpg	LI Yong UNIDO Director General “It is a great honor for me to express my appreciation to the GEF for its impressive leadership in the successful conclusion of the fifth replenishment cycle. Based on its mandate of promoting inclusive and sustainable industrial development, UNIDO has been working closely with the GEF within the GEF-5 replenishment cycle in addressing global challenges associated with climate change, chemical management, and international waters. Looking ahead towards the GEF-6 replenishment cycle, UNIDO fully supports the strategic and programming directions of the GEF and stands ready to collaborate with the GEF Partnership in all key areas linked to UNIDO’s mandate.”
	Achim Steiner UNEP Executive Director "UNEP shares and supports the GEF's ambition to realize full implementation of key multilateral environmental agreements and welcomes the renewed support from governments in GEF-6.   The increased level of commitment sends an important signal and reaffirms the value of the evolving GEF partnership.   Following the historic adoption of the Minamata Convention on Mercury in October 2013, we are also pleased to see the GEF move so quickly to both incorporate the needs for Minamata into the GEF instrument and through a significant allocation specifically to mercury."
delphin.png	Delfin Ganapin Head of UNDP/GEF Small Grants Programme   “The UNDP-implemented GEF Small Grants Programme (SGP) is an example of the long-term commitment of GEF and its donors to supporting community and civil society efforts in environment and sustainable development. Thanks to GEF grant funds, more than 17,000 projects in 128 countries have strengthened the capacities of local and indigenous communities and empowered women as well as youth and children in approaches that holistically integrate environmental protection and poverty reduction”.
helen.png	Helen Clark Administrator of UNDP   “UNDP strongly believes the GEF is a critical instrument for achieving sustainable development, and the strong financial support pledged by the contributing participants will ensure that this unique partnership can help attain that. A strong replenishment is not just good for the GEF, it is essential for effective global environmental governance. Participants in these replenishment discussions have set the GEF on a course which will mobilize a broad range of national, regional and international actors working in partnership towards addressing the key drivers of global environmental degradation and achieving multiple environmental and development benefits. This is an exciting vision for the GEF, and I am proud to commit the full support and engagement of UNDP in the GEF partnership in working to make it a reality.”
kanajo.png	Kanajo F Nwanze President of IFAD   “Over the span of nearly 15 years, the partnership between IFAD and GEF has benefitted millions of people. They have improved their livelihoods and preserved valuable natural resources. At the same time, they have adapted to the growing impact of climate change. In the years ahead, we will capitalize further on our complementary areas of expertise to reach millions more.”
gilbert.png	Gilbert Mbesherubusa AfDB Vice President of Infrastructure, Private Sector and Regional Integration    “With the African Continent bound to register the most significant economic growth over the decades to come, the African Development Bank will need to be at the forefront to ensure that economic growth is in line with the Sustainable Development Goals and the Bank’s 10-year strategy (2013 – 2022). The GEF, having the same vision of sustainable development as the AfDB, will be a key ally in this endeavor.”
monique.png	Monique Barbut UNCCD Executive Secretary   “The GEF is vital for countries seeking, at once, to sustainably address a growing variety of environmental challenges - challenges that have the potential to unravel the economic, social and political gains of the last decades. I applaud the donors for their continued support of initiatives that promote sustainable land management through good land stewardship globally. As Executive Secretary of the UNCCD and as we march towards a land degradation neutral world, I am fully committed to working with the GEF to break the silos which have so far hindered GEF actions and to enhancing SLM investments for they deliver quick results impacting other focal areas”
kerstin.png	Kerstin Stendahl  Acting Head of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions (BRS) Secretariat    “We welcome the more than US$ 4.3 billion pledged by 30 donor countries to address the urgent environmental needs of developing countries, and appreciate the increase in the overall amount of funding accorded to the chemicals and waste focal area announced today. As the principal entity entrusted with the operation of the Financial Mechanism of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), the GEF plays a catalytic role in leveraging funding from private and public donors for the Convention. We remain confident that the GEF will in the future be able to continue to address the growing financial and technical assistance needs of Parties to the Stockholm Convention, taking into account the increasing number of chemicals listed under the Convention and the growing number of parties it serves. Every dollar pledged to address POPs chemicals must now be put to work as hard as possible to defeat the scourge of persistent organic pollutants”