Despite adopting the Seventh Replenishment of the GEF Trust Fund (GEF-7) for $4.1 billion at its recently held 54th meeting in Da Nang, Viet Nam, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Council will maintain the GEF-6 funding level for its Small Grants Programme (SGP). The sum of $4.43 billion was earmarked to GEF-6.
This decision was reached in Da Nang, against the backdrop of dwindling funds available for the SGP which, despite its numerous high points, appears to raise some questions.
Following a proposal by GEF CEO and Chairperson, Naoko Ishii, members agreed to maintain the GEF-6 ceilings and seek closer alignment of projects with the overall GEF-7 targets.
While taking note of the implementation arrangements, GEF approved the proposed financing structure for the GEF-7 SGP.
The UNDP was also asked to prepare a paper for the 55th Council meeting describing the approach and criteria for the retained allocation of core funds to countries, and the results framework for the GEF-7 SGP and associated targets for global environmental benefits aligned with the overall GEF-7 results architecture.
The UNDP is one of the 18 agencies through which the GEF channels funds to recipient countries.
Earlier, a Council Member queried the double-payments when accessing funds through the SGP via an Implementing Agency, while others questioned SGP’s reporting requirements. Another Member requested clarification on the link between UNDP’s Equator Prize and the SGP.
Several others expressed concern over the 10% ceiling to System for Transparent Allocation of Resources (STAR) country allocations to participate in the SGP, with the Secretariat proposing to remove the percentage cap (of 10%) and keep the absolute cap (of $2 million).
Nonetheless, several Council Members lauded the SGP for enabling activities at the local level, even as they lamented the decrease in funds available for the SGP.