Distr. GENERAL UNEP/CBD/COP/9/9 2 May
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CBD Distr. GENERAL UNEP/CBD/COP/9/9 2 May 2008 ORIGINAL: ENGLISH CONFERENCE OF THE PARTIES TO THE CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY Ninth meeting Bonn, 19–30 May 2008 Item 2.2 of the provisional agenda* REPORT OF THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT FACILITY Note by the Executive Secretary 1. In accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Conference of the Parties and the Council of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) contained in the annex to decision III/8, annex, the GEF Council prepares and submits a report for each ordinary meeting of the Conference of the Parties. Section 3 of the MOU provides a list of specific information, detailed information as well as other information to be included in the report. 2. In addition, in decision VIII/18, paragraph 2, the Conference of the Parties requested the Global Environment Facility, as the institutional structure operating the financial mechanism of the Convention, to include in its regular report to the Conference of the Parties information on: (a) The initial application of the Resource Allocation Framework to resources allocated in the fourth replenishment of the Global Environment Facility that is operational from July 2006, focusing on the biodiversity focal area; (b) How the Resource Allocation Framework is likely to affect funding available to developing countries and countries with economies in transition for the implementation of their commitments under the Convention. 3. In light of the above, the Executive Secretary is circulating herewith the report of the Global Environment Facility to the Conference of the Parties at its ninth meeting. * UNEP/CBD/COP/9/1. /… In order to minimize the environmental impacts of the Secretariat‘s processes, and to contribute to the Secretary-General‘s initiative for a C-Neutral UN, this document is printed in limited numbers. Delegates are kindly requested to bring their copies to meetings and not to request additional copies. Global Environment Facility April 30, 2008 GEF REPORT TO THE NINTH MEETING OF THE CONFERENCE OF THE PARTIES TO THE CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. This document reports on the activities of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) in the area of biological diversity for the period January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2007, as such it includes the end of the GEF-3 phase and the start of GEF-4. 2. The GEF, as the operating entity of the financial mechanism of the Convention on Biological Diversity, provides financing to country driven projects based on guidance received from the Conference of Parties. The report describes the GEF‘s activities in response to guidance received from the Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity at its eighth session (COP VIII) held in Curitiba, Brazil, 20 - 31 March 2006, and other relevant decisions of previous COPs. One decision from COP VIII, Decision VIII/18, is directed towards the GEF and provides guidance to the financial mechanism. 3. During the reporting period, the GEF approved 54 full-size, 19 medium-size projects, and two enabling activities in the area of biological diversity (including biosafety). The total GEF allocation during the reporting period was approximately $ 306 million.1 An additional $1.536 billion was leveraged in co-financing for the projects from partners that included the GEF Agencies, bilateral agencies, recipient countries, and the private sector. In addition to the biodiversity portfolio, fourteen multi-focal area projects were partially supported with $ 42 million of biodiversity resources. In addition, 23 project preparation grants were approved in the reporting period amounting to approximately $4.3 million. 4. The document also describes GEF financed activities in the GEF focal areas of international waters and land degradation which also contributed directly or indirectly to the objectives and implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Through the international waters focal area, the GEF committed $61.82 million to 11 projects that supported directly or indirectly the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. An additional $315.36 million was leveraged as cofinancing for these international waters projects. In the land degradation focal area, six projects amounting to a total GEF commitment of approximately $30.14 million have components that address biodiversity conservation and/or sustainable use. An additional $194 million was leveraged as cofinancing for these land degradation projects. 5. The document reports on the activities of the GEF Evaluation Office during the reporting period that are related to the area of biological diversity including the following reports: Joint Evaluation of the GEF Small Grants Programme, GEF Annual Report on Impact, Country Evaluations, and an update of the Mid-Term Evaluation of the Resource Allocation Framework. Initial results from the GEF-3 portfolio in terms of the coverage of the investment are also provided. 6. Other relevant issues discussed include the Biodiversity Strategy for GEF-4, the GEF Sustainable Forest Management Program, Collaboration with the CBD Secretariat on the formulation of a Strategy for Resource Mobilization for the CBD, and an update on the progress in implementing the GEF reforms. 1 All figures in this report are in US dollars. Table of Contents I. Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 1 II. Project Activities in the Area of Biological Diversity ..................................................... 1 A. GEF-3 Biodiversity Strategy ..................................................................................................... 1 B. GEF-4 Biodiversity Strategy ...................................................................................................... 3 C. Sustainable Forest Management during GEF-4 ......................................................................... 4 D. Summary of Project Activities in Biological Diversity ............................................................. 6 Full-sized Projects ........................................................................................................................... 6 Medium-sized Projects.................................................................................................................... 7 Enabling Activities .......................................................................................................................... 7 Project Development Grants ........................................................................................................... 8 Small Grants Program ..................................................................................................................... 8 III. Activities in Response to COP Guidance ........................................................................ 8 Protected Areas: Systemic Approaches to Improving Protected Area Management ...................... 9 Sustainably Using Biodiversity through Mainstreaming .............................................................. 12 Access to genetic resources and fair and equitable sharing of benefits (ABS) ............................. 14 Biosafety ....................................................................................................................................... 15 Biological Diversity and Climate Change ..................................................................................... 18 Marine/Coastal Biodiversity and Island Biodiversity ................................................................... 20 Invasive Alien Species (IAS) ........................................................................................................ 22 Global Taxonomy Initiative (GTI) ................................................................................................ 23 Taxonomy Support through Enabling Activities .............................................................. 24 Taxonomy Support through Full and Medium Sized Projects .......................................... 24 Taxonomy Support through Small Grants Program ......................................................... 24 Strategic Plan of the Convention .................................................................................................. 24 Technology Transfer and Cooperation .......................................................................................... 25 National Reporting ........................................................................................................................ 26 Communication, Education and Public Awareness ...................................................................... 27 IV. Activities in Other GEF Focal Areas of relevance to this report ................................... 28 International Waters ...................................................................................................................... 28 Land Degradation Focal Area ....................................................................................................... 29 V. Monitoring & Evaluation Results .................................................................................. 30 A. GEF-3 Portfolio Monitoring Results ....................................................................................... 30 Monitoring Results at the Portfolio Level......................................................................... 30 Coverage Results from GEF-3 .....................................................................................................