The Global Environment Facility

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The Global Environment Facility
Leonardo A. Ramirez October 13th, 2005
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Agenda

• Introduction
• What is the GEF?
• Focus on International Waters
• GEFs Organizational Structure
• GEF International Waters Portfolio
• Experiences
• Questions for discussion

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Introduction - Antecedents

• The Brundtland Commission and "sustainable
  development (1987).
• The United Nations Conference on Environment and
  Development (1992).
• Initial experiment (1991).
• Restructuration (1994).

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What is The GEF?

• The GEF is an independent financial organization
  that provides grants to developing countries for
  projects that benefit the global environment and
  promote sustainable living in local communities.

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What is The GEF (Focus Areas)

• Biodiversity
• Climate Change
• International Waters
• Land Degradation
• The Ozone Layer
• Persistent Organic Pollutants
• (POPs)

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Focus on International Waters

• Focal area includes both marine and freshwater
  systems.
• Proponent of projects that help the developing
  countries to initiate a joint action to protect
  their shared waters and develop projects on a
  sustainable fashion way.
• Channel for the implementation of comprehensive,
  ecosystem-based approaches to managing
  transboundary waters and their drainage basins.
• Assist countries to identify and work jointly
  with their neighbors in order to address threats
  to the shared water body due to human activities.
  

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GEFs Organizational Structure

• The Member countries
• 176 countries.
• Each country has GEF rep. officials
•  
• The Council
• Main governing body. 
• 32 members who represent countries.
• Projects must be approved by the Council.

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GEFs Organizational Structure

• The Assembly
• All the countries that are members of the GEF.
• It meets once every four years to review the
  policies and operations of the GEF.
•  
• The Secretariat
• Coordinates the implementation of projects and
  programs.
• Coordinates the formulation of policies and
  operational strategies.

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GEFs Organizational Structure

• Implementing Agencies
• The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
• The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
• The World Bank (IBRD)

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GEFs Organizational Structure

• Executing Agencies(1999)
• The African Development Bank (AfDB)
• The Asian Development Bank (ADB)
• The European Bank for Reconstruction and
  Development (EBRD)
• The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)
• The International Fund for Agricultural
  Development (IFAD)
• The UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO)
• The UN Industrial Development Organization
  (UNIDO)
• Nongovernmental Organizations(NGOs)
• Participate in the development and the execution
  of GEF projects

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GEFs Organizational Structure

• The Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel
  (STAP)
• Technical advise
• Scientific collaboration
• Advise on monitoring evaluation

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GEFs Organizational Structure

• Monitoring and Evaluation Unit
• Project Performance Report
• Goal to integrate the lessons learned from
  earlier efforts to achieve greater effectiveness.
• Thematic reviews and independent evaluations, and
  by developing program-level indicators.
• ME is a shared responsibility between the GEF
  Secretariat and its Implementing Agencies UNDP,
  UNEP, and the World Bank.

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GEF International Waters Portfolio
Source Millenium Development goals Progress
Report 2005
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GEF International Waters Portfolio

• With a 300 million portfolio that includes 17
  projects, The UNDP-GEF is assisting over 70
  countries which share 15 lake and river basins.

Source Int. Waters Brochure GEF 2004
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Experiences (Lake Manzala)
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Experiences (Lake Manzala)
The Lake is exposed to high inputs of pollutants
from industrial, domestic, and agricultural
sources Lake that once provided 30 percent of
all Egypt's fish (85 percent) of organ
malformation and discoloration
Source United nations Project Document
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Experiences (Lake Manzala)
Success initiative! Treatment of wastewater via
engineered wetlands is a new low cost technology
The success of the project has led national
authorities to try to expand it
Source United nations Project Document
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Experiences (Bermejo River)
Source PCL library Encyclopedia
Combined size of Hungary and Bulgary
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Experiences (Bermejo River)
Initial project 16 Dams Focus the countries on
one or two key issues rather than a diffuse
environmental campain.
Surce Uitto, J. I. , Duda, A. (2004), Management
of transboundary water resources lessons from
international cooperation for conflict prevention
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Questions for discussion

• Does the world need more GEF type of
  Organizations focused on International waters
  with a bigger portfolio for the sake of solving
  transboundary water problems?
• Could we state that the jointly development of
  infrastructure projects with neighboring
  countries will on a timely matter fix the water
  scarcity crisis that some regions will face in
  the future?

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The Global Environment Facility
"Freedom alone is not enough without light to
read at night, without time or access to water to
irrigate your farm, without the ability to catch
fish to feed your family." Nelson
Mandela Thank you