About the GEF-7 Scorecard
The GEF-7 Corporate Scorecard is a comprehensive report on the performance of the Global Environment Facility during the GEF-7 period. In particular, the Scorecard reports on the progress made towards the achievement of the GEF-7 targets. It also looks at how the GEF is utilizing resources made available for its seventh replenishment cycle and making progress in the implementation of key policies. The Scorecard is published twice a year and this issue includes all projects approved from June 2018 up to and including the December 2021 work program.
Highlights
Half a year away from the end of the GEF-7 cycle, programming has reached 87 percent of the available resources, up from 81 percent in the previous GEF work program. It now features a program to address agricultural chemicals management and removal. The December 2021 work program will benefit 43 countries, including by contributing to a blue and green recovery through delivering nature-based solutions that enhance resilience in communities hard hit by the pandemic.
This work program also includes a Non-Grant Instrument project and brings the NGI programming up to 96 percent of GEF-7 resources. This high level of programming highlights a continuous demand for blended finance.
The Corporate Scorecard shows the cumulative expected results of projects and programs approved in GEF-7. It highlights that programming has delivered above 88 percent of the Core Indicator targets for seven indicators. Programming already surpassed five of the targets, with the important target on GHG emission reduction very close to reaching its objective.
In a year when climate finance sits at the top of the agenda, the GEF continues to do its part to mobilize financing from all sources to meet project and program objectives. With this work program, the GEF-7 co-financing target of mobilizing seven dollars for every “GEF dollar” spent has been surpassed, reaching a ratio of 7.9:1. The investment mobilized ratio has also increased, now standing at 6.4 dollars for every GEF dollar invested, above the 5:1 targeted ratio.
At this advanced GEF-7 stage, it is noteworthy that Least Developed Countries register the highest STAR utilization rate across all country groups and regions, standing at 94 percent. Small Island and Developing States made the most progress in 2021 reaching a utilization rate of 89 percent, up from 65 percent a year ago. Many countries have already exhausted their STAR resources. Four out of five countries made use of the flexibility provided in the use of their STAR resources. Resource utilization of the International Waters and Chemicals & Waste focal areas is reaching 90 percent.
The Country Support Program strengthened its virtual outreach. It held a total of 27 replenishment-related meetings that captured constituency feedback and fed into the latest proposed programming and policy directions for GEF-8. These events, along with additional country engagement, contribute to build capacity, strengthen ownership and advance South-South cooperation across the partnership. They also confirm the importance of maintaining virtual engagements in combination with in-person events as soon as feasible.
Upstream country consultations also took place to increase country capacity and understanding in strategic programming of GEF-7 resources. A number of these occurred at the margin of recent convention meetings.
As project preparation teams continue to adapt their engagement with project stakeholders in the context of ongoing social distancing measures and travel restrictions, it is important to note continuous progress in implementing both the stakeholder engagement and gender policies. They show that projects incorporate a gender-responsive approach at design stage and engage and work with stakeholders to better reflect on local priorities.
The GEF continues to grow its digital media presence, unveiling a new website at a time when many activities take place online. It features more stories prepared with Agencies and other relevant content also shared in social media channels to build awareness and support action on the global environment. The release of Good Practice Briefs supports this endeavor by promoting tested solutions to reach results.
Contents
1. Contribution to the Generation of Global Environmental Benefits
3. Other Programmatic Approaches
6. System for Transparent Allocation of Resources
1. Contribution to the Generation of Global Environmental Benefits
Projects and programs continue to deliver expected results for GEF-7 against the Core Indicator targets. GEF programming is making progress in delivering on the targets three years and a half into the GEF-7 replenishment cycle.
While the GEF’s overarching results architecture consists of 11 Core Indicators, a series of sub-associated indicators feed into these main indicators and bring context. In turn, they also provide disaggregated data, aligned to GEF programming directions.
2. Impact Programs
The GEF-7 Impact Programs are poised to deliver environmental benefits on a large scale, with their resources now almost fully programmed. A total of 61 countries are now participating in the programs, with some in more than one program.
3. Other Programmatic Approaches
Additional priority GEF-7 programs bring countries together to deliver high impact results and global benefits along key thematic areas. They tackle implementation challenges that require a collaborative approach among several individual projects. This latest Work Program provided resources for one new program.
4. Programming by Focal Area
This section summarizes the progress made in programming GEF-7 resources to date, including the December 2021 Work Program. It provides a cumulative summary of GEF-7 utilization of funds against the programming envelopes that were established by the Council during the GEF-7 Replenishment.
5. Programming by GEF Agency
GEF agencies are continuing to submit new projects and programs in GEF-7, in response to country demand. The data shown here reflects the respective Agency share of cumulative programming across GEF-7 Work Programs.
6. System for Transparent Allocation of Resources
Utilization of resources allocated to countries under the System for the Transparent Allocation of Resources (STAR) is increasing across the three focal areas it covers—biodiversity, climate change, and land degradation—and in every region. Small Island Developing States, along with Asia and Europe and Central Asia, registered the highest increase in programming among regions and country groups in the past six months.
Use of STAR Flexibility
Countries are increasingly using the flexibility offered by the STAR framework in re-allocating resources across focal areas. When using STAR resources, countries can take advantage of the flexibility offered by the system to tailor it to their specific needs and context. Countries with a STAR allocation below $7 million are fully flexible in conducting reallocation across the three STAR focal areas. Meanwhile, countries with an allocation greater than $7 million can conduct a marginal adjustment of up to $2 million, or 13% of their full allocation—whichever is higher—across focal areas.
7. Co-Financing
The Policy on Co-Financing sets out a goal for the overall GEF portfolio to reach a ratio of co-financing to GEF project financing of at least 7:1, and for the portfolio of projects and programs approved in Upper-Middle Income Countries and High-Income Countries that are not Small Island Developing States or Least Developed Countries to reach a ratio of investment mobilized to GEF project financing of at least 5:1. Co-Financing means financing that is additional to GEF Project Financing, and that supports the implementation of a GEF-financed project or program and the achievement of its objectives. Investment Mobilized means Co-Financing that excludes recurrent expenditures. Enabling Activities qualify for full agreed costs funding from the GEF; there is no co-finance requirement for Enabling Activities.
8. Climate-Related Financing in GEF-7
In line with the GEF-7 Programming Directions, the Secretariat monitors the share of climate-related financing in GEF-7. For this purpose, climate-related financing is defined as GEF financing that contributes towards climate change mitigation (CCM) or climate change adaptation (CCA) as a principal or a significant objective, consistent with the OECD DAC Rio Marker methodology.
9. Climate Change Adaptation
The GEF-7 Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) results framework is linked to the GEF Programming Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change for the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) and the Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF). Four Core Indicators track the progress in Adaptation Benefits, including beneficiaries disaggregated by gender. The expected results from the approved projects and programs in GEF-7 are depicted in this section.
10. Gender Equality
Without greater equality between men and women, the world will not meet its environment objectives. That’s why the GEF is making sure that projects are gender informed, giving women and men equal opportunities to contribute and benefit from them. The GEF is ramping up its ability to track these elements during project preparation, as shown in the data below covering full-sized projects in GEF-7.
11. Stakeholder Engagement
Including stakeholders—civil society organizations, Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and the private sector—in preparing projects and defining their expected roles during implementation is key in strengthening the overall impact of a project. The data shows that over three-quarters of projects consulted and took into account the civil society and private sector in their design. Not all projects have Indigenous Peoples or private sector as stakeholders. Therefore, the percentages are expected to be lower than those reported for civil society.
12. Communications
Since July 2018, the growing number of GEF stories, partner content, and mentions in online media has helped to raise the GEF’s profile, build awareness, and support action on the global environment. An emphasis on digital communication and strategic partnerships has resulted in the steady growth, and increased engagement, of visitors to the GEF website and followers of the GEF social media accounts.
13. Country Support Program
With its activities continuing to be held online, the CSP is adapting its delivery model and expanding its reach as it strengthens country capacity and leadership in utilizing GEF resources. In addition to key events, the CSP held a series of meetings with recipient countries to brief and seek feedback on the 8th GEF replenishment, as well as on the CSP’s strategic direction looking ahead. The online GEF calendar provides information on CSP events.
14. Upstream Country Consultations
At the request of countries, upstream consultation missions were prepared to provide opportunities for Government Agencies and GEF Operational Focal Point teams to engage with technical staff from the Secretariat prior to making important decisions on GEF-7 programming using the GEF Trust Fund and the LDCF/SCCF Adaptation Funds. The objective of these consultations, which have taken place through virtual engagement since the onset of the pandemic, was to provide strategic guidance on the GEF-7 programming elements for recipient countries and GEF agencies to gain an in-depth understanding of the Impact Programs and Focal Area strategies of GEF-7, and to understand the need to focus on impact as a major criterion for GEF7 programming and use of resources.
15. Knowledge and Learning
In the COVID-19 context, the GEF promotes online learning to strengthen the quality and impact of its investments. It has further increased its reach by making classes available in different languages. Over 12,000 participants received a certificate upon completion of any of the six modules of the Gender and the Environment course. Both the Gender and the Introduction to the GEF e-courses are now also available in Spanish and French. In addition, the GEF is making available the French and Spanish version of the e-course on the GEF Results Framework.
In addition, a new Good Practice Brief on participatory design of a green city has been produced, and two online seminars on Good Practice Briefs have been organized with Agencies. They help embed knowledge-management thinking in project design and identify good practices.
The Global Environment Facility was established on the eve of the Rio Earth Summit to tackle our planet’s most pressing environmental problems. Since then, it has provided more than $21.7 billion in grants and mobilized an additional $119 billion in co-financing for more than 5,000 projects and programs. The GEF is the largest multilateral trust fund focused on enabling developing countries to invest in nature, and supports the implementation of major international environmental conventions including on biodiversity, climate change, chemicals, and desertification. It brings together 184 member governments in addition to civil society, international organizations, and private sector partners. Through its Small Grants Programme, the GEF has provided support to more than 26,000 civil society and community initiatives in 135 countries.