16 November 2016: The Capacity-building Initiative for Transparency (CBIT) trust fund, hosted by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), was declared “open for business” by Naoko Ishii, GEF CEO and Chairperson, at the 22nd session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP 22) Marrakech, Morocco.

The CBIT trust fund was established by the GEF Council at its 50th meeting in June 2016, in response to the mandate emanating from Decision 1/CP.21 adopting the Paris Agreement on climate change. “This is yet another positive and progressive initiative launched here in Marrakech that underlines the way donor countries are raising support for the climate action aspirations of developing ones,” said UNFCCC Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa.

The CBIT aims to help developing countries in their efforts to build institutional and technical capacity for enhanced transparency. “Increasing transparency and enhancing countries’ capacity for monitoring and evaluation are lynchpins for the Paris Agreement,” underscored Ishii. She announced that the GEF has already received requests for support from developing countries, “which reflects the importance that many countries attach to this issue.” The first set of projects under the CBIT approved by the GEF will be implemented in Costa Rica, Kenya and South Africa.

Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, the US and the Walloon Region (Belgium) have pledged over US$50 million to the CBIT. Others, including Japan, have publicly declared their intention to support the fund. [GEF Press Release] [GEF CBIT Webpage] [Joint Statement on the Donors’ Pledge of US$55.3 Million to the CBIT] [Decision 1/CP.21 Adopting Paris Agreement] [IISD RS Coverage of 50th GEF Council Meeting]