ABSTRACT
The Global Environment Facility (GEF) shall ensure the cost-effectiveness of its activities in addressing the targeted global environmental issues, and shall fund programmes and projects which are country-driven and based on national priorities designed to support sustainable development. To serve as a mechanism for international co-operation for the purpose of providing new and additional grant and concessional funding to meet the agreed global environmental benefits in the following focal areas: biological diversity, climate change, international waters, and ozone layer depletion. The GEF is implemented by the UN Development Programme, the UN Environment Programme, and the World Bank. The restructured GEF is based on a set of principles agreed to by the Participants. GEF’s operational and administrative budget for the period 1994–1997 was $US2 billion and is $2.75 billion for 1998–2001. The Council is the main governing body responsible for developing, adopting, and evaluating the operational policies and programmes for GEF-financed activities.
