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Lima, Peru, December 3, 2014 - Today the Global Environment Facility (GEF) presents its Report to the the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Twentieth Conference of Parties (COP20).
The GEF is an operating entity of the financial mechanism of the UNFCCC and as such it functions under the guidance of and is accountable to the Conference of the Parties (COP), which decide on its policies, program priorities and eligibility criteria related to this Convention. To operationalize the financial mechanism, the COP and the GEF Council agreed to a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in 1996.
Since the adoption of this MOU, the COP has provided guidance regularly to the GEF. By COP 19 in 2013, the number of COP decisions and paragraphs including guidance to the GEF amounts to 73 and 241, respectively.
Over two decades, the GEF has responded diligently by incorporating COP guidance into its climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies, by approving projects and programs, and by continually adapting its policies and procedures.
To complement the report to COP20 on the GEF response to the guidance received at COP19 in Warsaw, the GEF has prepared a booklet that summarizes 20 years of GEF responses to the COP’s guidance.
The publication serves as a reference for parties and provides information to anyone interested in better understanding the function and the work of the GEF as a financial mechanism of the UNFCCC. The goal is to provide full documentation of the evolution of GEF activities and policies as informed by guidance from the COP