ABSTRACT
This chapter seeks to increase the understanding of what the Global Environment Facility is, how it emerged as a pilot facility and why it came to be surrounded by controversy. This facility was created to assist developing countries in their efforts to address global environmental problems. The creation of the Global Environment Facility was a break with the cumulative step–by–step process that characterizes regime–building in the environmental area. The boldness of the initiative betrays that it was not created via the regular diplomatic process. International environmental agreements usually involve scientists, environmental activists, international lawyers and officials from governmental branches. The international agency that sponsors the negotiations commonly relies on its 'constituency' for support. Broadly speaking, the entire restructuring process can be viewed as a learning process. Some components resulted from an internal process of institutional learning in the pilot phase.
