The 33rd GEF Council Meeting,22-25 April 2008

• Joint Summary of the Chairs

Four-year framework of programme priorities for the financial mechanism

• An analytical paper on COP guidance to the financial mechanism was done in 2007 (see the document).
• Governments are invited to provide inputs on a four-year framework of programme priorities for the financial mechanism (see the notification).

Project cycle (how to access GEF funding)

• GEF project cycle is evolving, and new features of the GEF project cycle has been introduced (see the project cycle document)
• Other major GEF policy documents related to biodiversity focal area include: the Resource Mobilization Framework, and Focal Area Strategies and Strategic Programming for GEF-4

Guidance to the GEF for financing biodiversity

• GEF is the designated institutional structure operating the financial mechanism of the Convention, and applies the guidance including policy, strategy, programme priorities and eligibility criteria relating to the access to and utilization of its resources from the Conference of the Parties. See COP1 guidance; COP2 guidance; COP3 guidance; COP4 guidance; COP5 guidance; COP6 guidance; COP7 guidance; COP8 guidance; and their compilation.
• Also see the document on institutional structure to operate the financial mechanism under the Convention (1994); policy, strategy, programme priorities and eligibility criteria regarding access to and utilization of financial resources (1994).

Reports from the GEF

GEF provides to every ordinary meeting of the Conference of the Parties a report on its activities related to biological diversity. See: 1995 report to COP-2; 1996 report to COP-3 (en es fr ar ru); 1998 report to COP-4 (en es fr); 2000 report to COP-5 (en es fr zh); 2002 report to COP-6 (en es fr); 2004 report to COP-7 (en es fr); 2006 report to COP-8 (en es fr ar ru zh)

CBD Statements to the GEF

The Executive Secretary provides updates on the development under the Convention to the GEF Council and Assembly on a regular basis.

• Ahmed Djoghlaf's statement to the 32nd Meeting of the Council of the Global Environment Facility
• Ahmed Djoghlaf’s statement to the 28th meeting of the GEF Council (French, Spanish)
• Ahmed Djoghlaf’s statement to the third Assembly of the Global Environment Facility

• Earlier CBD statements to GEF Council’s 25th meeting, 24th meeting, 23rd meeting, 22nd meeting, 21st meeting, 19th meeting

GEF Council decisions database

• The searchable database provides an easy access to the GEF Council decisions that have an impact on its funding for biodiversity (Click to access the database).
• The CBD relationship with the GEF is governed by Memorandum of Understanding between the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Council of the Global Environment Facility (Decision III/8)