25 April 2018: Approximately 30 countries have collectively pledged US$4.1 billion for the seventh replenishment of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) trust fund. The agreement was announced at the conclusion of the fourth meeting of the GEF-7 replenishment.

The meeting took place in Stockholm, Sweden, on 25 April 2018. The GEF-7 replenishment will formally conclude during the GEF Assembly, which will convene from 27-28 June 2018, in Da Nang, Viet Nam.

The talks for GEF-7 included a review of the ‘Sixth Overall Performance Study of the GEF’ (OPS6), which notes that the GEF occupies a unique space in the global environmental financing architecture because of its broad focus and role as a financial mechanism for environmental conventions. Participants also considered programming directions during GEF-7 (FY19-FY22), and recommended updates to the STAR allocation methodology, including measures to address the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable GEF-recipient countries, among others.

The talks for GEF-7 were called for in October 2016, at the 51st meeting of the GEF Council, which requested the Trustee, in cooperation with the Secretariat, to initiate the discussions. Subsequently, meetings took place in Paris, France (28-30 March 2017), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (3-5 October 2017), Brasília, Brazil (23-25 January 2018) and Stockholm, Sweden (25 April 2018). Participants in the negotiations included: existing and potential Contributing Participants; representatives from non-donor recipient countries representing Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean; NGO/CSO representatives from a donor country-based NGO/CSO and a recipient country; representatives of the private sector; and representatives of GEF Agencies and the conventions for which the GEF serves as a financial mechanism.

The GEF serves as a financial mechanism for the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), Minamata Convention on Mercury, and the Montreal Protocol. The GEF also funds activities in the areas of sustainable forest management, international waters, and ozone layer depletion.

Previously, the GEF Trust Fund was replenished by US$2.75 billion (GEF-1), US$3 billion (GEF-2), US$3.13 billion (GEF-3), US$3.13 billion (GEF-4), US$4.34 billion (GEF-5) and US$4.43 billion (GEF-6). [GEF Press Release] [GEF-7 Meeting Documents] [[IISD RS coverage of the 53rd meeting of the GEF Council]