The panel included a keynote address by UNEP Executive Secretary Achim Steiner, who underscored the importance of the STAP as the “reinsurance” mechanism of the GEF portfolio, thus determining the value-added of the GEF Instrument and delivering advice on the most efficient allocation of funds.
29 March 2012: The biannual meeting of the Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel (STAP) to the Global Environment Facility (GEF) convened a high-level panel on how to leverage the outcomes of the 2012 Planet Under Pressure Conference to inform the GEF process.
The panel, which convened in London, UK, on 29 March 2012, was held on the sidelines of the 2012 Planet Under Pressure Conference, which convened from 26-29 March. The panel included a keynote address by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Secretary Achim Steiner, who underscored the importance of the STAP as the “reinsurance” mechanism of the GEF portfolio, thus determining the value-added of the GEF Instrument and delivering advice on the most efficient allocation of funds. Steiner said the GEF should be considered as a “venture catalyst,” underscoring that the more it is driven by a consolidated environmental perspective, the better reinsurance it will provide.
Other panellists included Georgina Mace (Chair of the Scientific Committee of DIVERSITAS), Robert Watson (Chief Scientific Advisor Defra, UK), and Joseph Alcamo (Chief Scientist, UNEP). Two new STAP members were also announced at the meeting: Anand Patwardhan (India) for climate change and adaptation; and Annette Cowie (Australia) for land degradation. [IISD RS Meeting Coverage]