Why in News?
·         Recently, at the 64th Global Environment Facility (GEF) council meeting in Brazil, the governing body approved the disbursement of USD 1.4 billion to accelerate efforts to tackle the climate, biodiversity and pollution crises.
·         This is the 2nd work program of the GEF-8 funding period, which runs from 2022 and 2026.

What is Global Environment Facility?  
·         The GEF was established on the eve of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit.
·         It is a family of funds dedicated to confronting biodiversity loss, climate change, pollution, and strains on land and ocean health.
·         It has a unique governing structure organized around an Assembly, the Council, the Secretariat, 18 agencies, a Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel, and the Evaluation Office.
·         It has 184 member countries, including India.
·         Its secretariat is based in Washington, D.C.
·         The World Bank serves as the GEF Trustee, administering the GEF Trust Fund (contributions by donors).

It provides Financial Assistance for five major International Conventions:  
·         The Minamata Convention on Mercury which came into force in 2017
·         The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) which came into force in 2004.
·         The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD ) which came into force in 1993.
·         The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) which was adopted in 1994.
·         The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which came into force in 1994.
 
What is GEF Council? 
·         The Council, the GEF's main governing body, comprises 32 members appointed by constituencies of GEF member countries (14 from developed countries, 16 from developing countries, and two from economies in transition).
·         India has formed a permanent Constituency in the Executive Council of the GEF together with Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal and Maldives.
·         Council members rotate at different intervals determined by each constituency.
·         The Council meets twice annually.
·         The Council develops, adopts and evaluates the operational policies and programs for GEF-financed activities.
·         It also reviews and approves the work program (projects submitted for approval), making decisions by consensus.
  
Key Takeaways from Recent GEF Meet:
Global Biodiversity Framework Fund:
·         The Governing board has approved the establishment of a new fund, the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF), to finance the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
·         This fund is crucial as nearly 50% of its resources will be allocated to biodiversity-related work during the GEF-8 period.
 
Fund Allocations: 
·         20% will be allocated to Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPLCs), 25% to GEF agencies, 36% to SIDS (Small Island Developing States), and 3% to LDCs (Least Developed Countries).
·         The allocation for IPLCs will be reviewed two years after the ratification in August, while the allocations for SIDS and LDCs will be reviewed three years after ratification.
·         The agency hopes that it would help generate another $9.1 billion in co-financing to bring the total to $10.5 billion. During the period, which ends in June 2026, $5.3 billion in donor funding will be deployed for environmental initiatives in developing countries, according to GEF.

Additional Fodder:  
Kunming-Montreal Global Bio Diversity Framework:
At the 15th Conference of Parties (COP15) to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity “Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework” (GBF) was adopted.
GBF includes 4 goals and 23 targets for achievement by 2030.
The first part of COP 15 took place in Kunming, China and reinforced the commitment to address the biodiversity crisis and the Kunming Declaration was adopted by over 100 countries.
 
Major Outcomes of COP15: 
Money for Nature:
·         Signatories aim to ensure USD200 billion per year is channelled to conservation initiatives, from public and private sources.
·         Wealthier countries should contribute at least USD20 billions of this every year by 2025, and at least USD30 billion a year by 2030.
·         Recently, at the 64th Global Environment Facility (GEF) council meeting in Brazil, the governing body approved the disbursement of USD 1.4 billion to accelerate efforts to tackle the climate, biodiversity and pollution crises.
 
Big Companies Report Impacts on Biodiversity: 
·         Companies should analyse and report how their operations affect and are affected by biodiversity issues.
·         The parties agreed to large companies and financial institutions being subject to “requirements” to make disclosures regarding their operations, supply chains and portfolios.

Harmful Subsidies:  
·         Countries committed to identify subsidies that deplete biodiversity by 2025, and then eliminate, phase out or reform them.
·         They agreed to slash those incentives by at least USD500 billion a year by 2030 and increase incentives that are positive for conservation.
 
Monitoring and reporting progress: 
·         All the agreed aims will be supported by processes to monitor progress in the future, in a bid to prevent this agreement meeting the same fate as similar targets that were agreed in Aichi, Japan, in 2010, and never met.
·         National action plans will be set and reviewed, following a similar format used for greenhouse gas emissions under U.N.-led efforts to curb climate change. Some observers objected to the lack of a deadline for countries to submit these plans.
 
Mains Question:
  Q: As the costs of climate change rack up, there is an urgent need to strengthen Climate Financing Mechanism- Comment.