WASHINGTON, May 15, 2001--The governing Council of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) has approved a work program providing $150.5 million for 16 projects.

The projects, including one re-submitted from an earlier work program, have attracted an additional $385 million in funding from other bodies. This co-financing brings the value of the portfolio reflected in this work program to $535.5 million.

In one case, the Micro-Watershed and Environmental Management Program in Nigeria, each $1 invested by GEF is matched by more than $13 in additional investments from other sources. "This kind of cooperation at the financial level," says GEF Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Mohamed T. El-Ashry, "is crucial to the achievement of the objectives of the GEF. Such cooperation helps to spread the risks associated with project implementation, to leverage firm commitments from project beneficiaries, to strengthen ownership of these projects in the countries concerned and to improve the likelihood that successful interventions will be replicated within and across national borders."

The decisions of the just-concluded meeting bring to $3.3 billion the total GEF grants to full projects approved since the establishment of the Facility. When account is taken of non-GEF co-financing, the total cumulative value of GEF-supported projects amounts to more than $11.5 billion.

"Given the demand for GEF support," says El-Ashry, "the work program could have been significantly larger than the $535.5 million in approved projects. However, the level of country-driven demand for GEF-eligible support is only one factor determining resource allocations. Other factors include the availability of financial resources at the time the work program is submitted. Because of this element, the work program submitted to Council by the Secretariat was not only below the level of demand but also 13 percent less than the most recent Corporate Business Plan projections of $580 million."

Nonetheless, the countries that will benefit from the newly approved projects represent a wide geographical coverage. Also project composition is consistent with GEF priorities and responds to agreed strategies. For example, many of the projects, including the China: Renewable Energy Scale-Up Program (CRESP), enable the private sector to participate in a significant way by supplying technology or making investments.

The work program also demonstrates a trend towards more strategic partnerships and a programmatic approach which goes beyond simple stand-alone projects and which therefore has a broader, more significant long-term impact.

Other aspects taken into account in developing the work program include: an integrated ecosystem approach; public involvement in project design and implementation; arrangements to monitor and evaluate project impacts; and the capacity of beneficiary governments and peoples to sustain the required environmental initiatives after initial donor support comes to an end.

The 16 projects approved are as follows:

Biological Diversity

Ecuador: National Protected Areas System. GEF grant: $8.35 million. Total project cost: $14.75 million. Developed through the World Bank.

India: Conservation and Sustainable Management of Dryland Biodiversity, Phase I. GEF grant: $2.04 million; total project cost: $4.505 million. Developed through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Nigeria: Micro-Watershed and Environmental Management Program. GEF grant: $8.35 million; total project cost: $115.35 million. (World Bank)

Climate Change

Cambodia: Promotion of Renewable Energy, Phase I. GEF grant: $6.08 million; total project cost: $16.58 million. (World Bank)

China: Renewable Energy Scale-Up Program, Phase I. GEF grant: $41.57 million; total project cost: $171.15 million. (World Bank)

China: Demonstration for Fuel-Cell Bus Commercialization in China, Phase II  Part I. GEF grant: $5.815 million; total project cost: $15.930 million. (UNDP)

Croatia: Energy Efficiency Project. GEF grant: $7.084 million; total project cost: $30.484 million. (World Bank)

India: Fuel-Cell Bus Development in India, Phase II  Part I. GEF grant: $6.280 million; total project cost: $12.121 million. (UNDP)

Lithuania: Vilnius District Heating Project. GEF grant: $10 million; total project cost: $65.3 million. (World Bank)

Namibia: Renewable Energy. GEF grant: $2.703 million; total project cost: $7.433 million. (UNDP)

International Waters

Regional: Development of National Implementation Plans for the Management of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). GEF grant: $6.185 million; total project cost: $8.625 million. Developed through the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Regional: Danube/Black Sea Basin Strategic Partnership on Nutrient Reduction, Phase I. GEF grant: $29.700 million; total project cost: $41.295 million. (UNDP, UNEP and World Bank)

Multiple Focal Areas

Global: Technology Transfer Networks, Phase I. GEF grant: $1.275 million; total project cost: $5.665 million. (UNEP)

Regional (Colombia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua): Integrated Silvo-Pastoral Approaches to Ecosystem Management. GEF grant: $4.770 million; total project cost: $8.670 million. (World Bank)

Senegal: Integrated Ecosystem Management in Four Representative Landscapes of Senegal, Phase I. GEF grant: $4.350 million; total project cost: $14.850 million.
(World Bank)

Re-submitted Project

Regional (Albania, Macedonia): Balkans Energy Efficiency Program (BEEP). GEF grant: $6.0 million; total project cost: $6.0 million. (World Bank)