Current Affair 1:

The 67th meeting of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) held from June 17-20, 2024 ended with an approval for $736.4 million in funding. A total of 34 nature protection and renewal projects have been provided funds.

About GEF:

The Global Environment Facility (GEF), established on the eve of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit.

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).

The GEF provides funding to assist developing countries in meeting the objectives of international environmental conventions.

The GEF serves as a "financial mechanism" to five conventions, which are the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), and Minamata Convention on Mercury.

Focal Points:

Each GEF member country has designated government officials responsible for GEF activities.

There are two types of GEF Focal Points: political and operational. All the GEF member countries have Political Focal Points, while only recipient countries eligible for GEF support have Operational Focal Points.

1. GEF Political Focal Points focus mainly on governance, including policies and decisions, and relations between member countries within their constituencies.
2. GEF Operational Focal Points are responsible for the operations of GEF activities within their countries.

If we take India, the Political Focal points: Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India

Operational Focal Point: Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India.

India is also a donor to the GEF Fund:

 

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