Global Environmental Facility (GEF)

In this article, we will discuss Global Environmental Facility (GEF). So, let’s get started.

Global Environmental Facility(GEF)

• It is an independently operating financial organization.
• GEF is a multilateral financial mechanism that provides grants to developing countries for projects that benefit the global environment and promote sustainable livelihoods in local communities.
• It was set up as a fund under World Bank in 1991.
• In 1992, at the Rio Earth Summit, the GEF was restructured and moved out of the World Bank system to become a permanent, separate institution.
• Since 1994, however, the World Bank has served as the Trustee of the GEF Trust Fund and provided administrative services.
• It is based in Washington DC, United States.
• It addresses six designated focal areas:
• Biodiversity,
• Climate change,
• International waters,
• Ozone depletion,
• Land degradation and
• Persistent Organic Pollutants.
• The program supports an active portfolio of over 200 investments globally.
• GEF serves as a financial mechanism for:
• Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
• United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
• UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)
• Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)
• Minamata Convention on Mercury
• India is both donor and recipient of GEF.