Behind the Numbers; A Closer Look at GEF Achievements

The format is approximately 8.5 inches by 11 inches. 16 pages. Includes illustrations. Illustrations in color. No dust jacket as issued. Minor cover wear. Presumed publication date is based on a past-tense reference to 2006 information. This booklet/brochure from the Global Environment Facility opens with the following statements: "The numbers tell a story: 18 years, $8.6 billion invested directly, $36.1 billion in cofinancing, and 2,400 projects in more than 165 countries. Together, these numbers make us the world/s leading public financial fund investing in the joint management, care, and restoration of our planet. Yet behind those numbers is a bigger story that comes from the positive impact GEF investments have on the two billion still waiting for access to electricity, clean water, and other services others easily enjoy. It does this as a unique networked organization working to better of make a global impact with the help of the public sector, businesses, and civil society. From Wikipedia: additional grants and concessional funding to cover the "incremental" or additional costs associated with transforming a project with national benefits into one with global environmental benefits. The United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Environment Program, and the World Bank were the three initial partners implementing GEF projects. In 1994, at the Rio Earth Summit, the GEF was restructured and moved out of the World Bank system to become a permanent, separate institution. The decision to make the GEF an independent organization enhanced the involvement of developing countries in the decision-making process and in implementation of the projects. Since 1994, however, the World Bank has served as the Trustee of the GEF Trust Fund and provided administrative services. As part of the restructuring, the GEF was entrusted to become the financial mechanism for both the UN Convention on Biological Diversity and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. In partnership with the Montreal Protocol of the Vienna Convention on Ozone Layer Depleting Substances, the GEF started funding projects that enable the Russian Federation and nations in Eastern Europe and Central Asia to phase out their use of ozone-destroying chemicals. The GEF subsequently was also selected to serve as financial mechanism for two more international conventions: The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (2001) and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (2003). [edit] Areas of work. The Least Developed Countries Fund for Climate Change (LDCF) and the Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF) were established by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) in response to guidance from the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). In May 2010 took place the 4th General Meeting of Global Environment Facility in Uruguay. As a consequence there will be an observatory specialized in climate change in Uruguay, a new experience at world scale. The Global Environment Facility (GEF) unites 182 member governments in partnership with international institutions, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector to address global environmental issues. An independent financial organization, the GEF provides grants to developing countries and countries with economies in transition for projects related to biodiversity, climate change, international waters, land degradation, the ozone layer, and persistent organic pollutants. These projects benefit the global environment, linking local, national, and global environmental challenges and promoting sustainable livelihoods. Established in 1991, the GEF is today the largest funder of projects to improve the global environment. The GEF has allocated $9.2 billion, supplemented by more than $40 billion in cofinancing, for more than 2, 700 projects in more than 165 developing countries and countries with economies in transition. Through its Smal.…