67th Council Meet of Global Environment Facility

June 18, 2024

GS Paper III Environment and Ecology

The 67th Council Meet of Global Environment Facility being convened in Washington, DC.

Key Highlights of 67th Council Meet of Global Environment Facility

Amount Allocation: An amount of $736.4 million will be allocated towards environment protection at this Global Environment Facility (GEF) council meeting.
- The councils of the GEF Trust Fund, Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF), and Least Developed Countries Fund and Special Climate Change Fund (LDCF/SCCF) will consider $495.6 million, $37.8 million and $203 million respectively.
  - The LDCF and SCCF governing body is funding for 14 climate adaptation initiatives.
  - The LDCF work program will support projects related to climate resilience and adaptation in Angola, Cambodia, Chad, the Comoros, the Gambia, Guinea, Lao PDR, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, Somalia, and Tanzania.
Projects: Over the four-day meeting, the GEF will consider projects that protect biodiversity, counter climate change and pollution, and support land and ocean health.
Consideration: The GEF Trust Fund will take decisions on projects under the GEF-8 funding cycle running from July 2022 to June 2026.
- These include:
  - Work on 28 million hectares of land and marine areas in the Sahel region and Yemen.
  - Initiatives include land restoration through the Great Green Wall project in Africa.
  - The improved management and conservation of wetlands in Yemen’s Socotra archipelago and Aden wetlands.
  - An initiative to conserve terrestrial and marine biodiversity in vulnerable sites in Somalia.

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About Global Environment Facility (GEF)

Establishment: On the eve of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, a catalyst for action on the environment.
Mandate: Through its strategic investments, the GEF works with partners to tackle the planet’s biggest environmental issues.
Comprises: It is a unique partnership of 18 agencies — including United Nations agencies, multilateral development banks, national entities and international NGOs — working with 183 countries.
It is a financial mechanism for:
- Minamata Convention on Mercury
- Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)
- United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD)
- United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
- United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
India’s Role: India has formed a permanent Constituency in the Executive Council of the GEF together with Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal and Maldives.
- India is both a donor and a recipient of GEF. It has been a leading developing country participant in the GEF since its inception in 1991 and has played a major role in shaping the restructuring of the GEF.
- The Ministry of Finance is the political focal point while the Ministry of Environment & Forests is the Operational Focal Point for the GEF Projects.
The GEF Trust Fund: It was established to help developing countries and countries with economies in transition to meet the objectives of the international environmental conventions and agreements.
The GEF Council: It develops, adopts, and evaluates the operational policies and programs for GEF-financed activities. It also reviews and approves the work program (projects submitted for approval), making decisions by consensus.
- Though the Council customarily meets twice each year, it will meet three times in 2024.

About Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF)

Launched in August 2023 at the 7th GEF Assembly in Vancouver and approved by 186 countries.
GBFF aims to help countries achieve the goals of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
- It has received funds from Canada, Germany, Japan, Luxembourg, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

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