26 June 2018: The Council of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) has approved a Work Program comprising eight projects and one program concept that amounted to US$63.4 million, including GEF project financing and Agency fees.

The Work Program includes a global umbrella program for the preparation of national communications and biennial update reports to the UNFCCC and a regional program for reversing ecosystem and water degradation in the Volta River Basin. Multifocal area programs will involve managing coastal aquifers in selected Pacific SIDS and enhancing capacity for biodiversity conservation and protected area management.

The Council also reviewed the summary of negotiations of the seventh replenishment of the GEF Trust Fund (GEF-7), which concluded in April with an agreement through which approximately 30 countries collectively pledged US$4.1 billion for GEF-7. The GEF Council welcomed the successful conclusion of the replenishment, took note of the summary, and endorsed the programming directions.

The Council noted that the work done through the GEF contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and that the Secretariat would develop a guidance note related to the architecture of GEF-7 for information following the 54th Council meeting.

During a discussion on relations with the conventions, the Council and Cristiana Pasca Palmer, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, and Rossana Silva-Repetto, Executive Secretary ad interim of the Minamata Convention, reflected on the GEF-6 period and priorities for GEF-7. In addition, the GEF Council approved the Memorandum of Understanding as adopted by the thirteenth session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP 13).

The 54th meeting of the GEF Council convened from 24-26 June 2018, in Da Nang, Viet Nam. It will be immediately followed by the sixth meeting of the Assembly of the GEF, from 27-28 June 2018. [IISD RS meeting coverage of the 54th meeting of the GEF Council and sixth meeting of the GEF Assembly] [GEF 54th Council Meeting Documents][Joint Summary of the Chairs]