The Global Environmental Facility: A Dismal Failure

Thursday, October 03, 2013 by Brent Pinero

The United States has financed several global initiatives to benefit the environment. One of these efforts is the Global Environmental Facility (GEF).[i] The GEF funds international projects to preserve biodiversity, prevent global warming, protect international waters, stop land degradation, save the ozone layer and remove persistent organic pollutants.

Over the past 12 years, the United States has donated $1.24 billion to the GEF. Over the past five years, U.S. contributions have increased 61 percent. [See the figure]. Other developed countries have voluntarily contributed billions of dollars to the GEF for projects in developing countries. It is difficult to determine the total amount spent because some countries do not follow through on their pledged support, and the GEF itself does not manage the projects……

 Problem: The Global Environmental Facility Is Ineffective. Since the adoption of Agenda 21 by the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, the GEF has been jointly managed by the World Bank and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).   The GEF is the financing mechanism established principally to implement five international agreements: the Convention on Biological Diversity, the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, the U.N. Convention to Combat Desertification, the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants and the Minamata Convention on Mercury……To Read More…..