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| October 1996 | ||
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INTERNATIONAL WATERS COMPONENT Over sixty percent of the world's population of 5.6 billion live within 100 km. of the coastal zone. Billions of people depend on the ocean for sustenance, income genration, transportation, recreation and other benefits. On land, freshwater resources---lands, rivers and groundwater---supply water for drinking, irrigation, recreation, power generation, industrial activity and sewage treatment. As a consequence of both continued population growth and often unsustainable development practices, the world's marine and freshwater resources face increasing threats from human activities, including pollution, species extinction, overexploitation, habitat destruction and ecosystem disruption. In addressing this broad suite of international waters issues, a consensus has emerged that a comprehensive approach to water resources management is required---one that is cross-sectoral, integrates ecological and development needs, and is based on holistic analyses of the carrying capacity of the marine and freshwater environments. The role of the GEF is to act as a catalyst for the implementation of comprehensive approaches to managing international water resources in order to achieve global environmental benefits. The GEF can help countries to: improve their understanding of their water resources, identify how different sectoral activities affect the aquatic environment, build institutional capacity for addressing transboundary water concerns, and collaborate with neighboring countries to improve the quality of shared water bodies. In addition, the GEF can serve a catalytic role in helping countries seeking to leverage cofinancing in association with national funding, development financing, agency funding and private sector assistance. The international waters area includes numerous international conventions, treaties and agreements, as well as bilateral and multilateral agreements for transboundary basins. Chapters 17 and 18 of Agenda 21 also provide valuable guidance to countries seeking to ameliorate their water-related concerns. The GEF can thus provide a vehicle for cooperating nations to develop innovative regional approaches to addressing international waters issuess in the context of existing agreements. The new GEF Operational Strategy (February, 1996) defines "international waters" as including the oceans, large marine ecosystems, enclosed or semi-enclosed seas and estuaries as well as rivers, lakes, groundwater systems and wetlands with transboundary drainage basins or common borders. The Operational Strategy identifies a number of priority areas in the International Waters focal area: These include: ·ð Degradation of the quality of transboundary water resources , primarily due to pollution from land-based activities. ·ð Physical habitat degradation of coastal and near-shore marine areas, lakes and watercourses (wetlands, mangroves, coral reefs, estuaries) due to inappropriate management or unsustainable resource exploitation. ·ð Introduction of non-indigenous species that disrupt aquatic ecosystems and cause negative impacts on human health ·ð Excessive exploitation of living and non-living marine resources due to insufficient management and control measures. In addition, activities to prevent land degradation and to rehabilitate degraded catchment areas can be included as part of an international waters project if they contribute to the resolution of priority transboundary water problems. In order to assist the GEF in achieving its focal area objectives cost effectively and to link country-driven needs with the comparative advantages of the different Implementing Agencies (UNDP, World Bank, and UNEP), a set of Operational Programmes (OP) has been developed under each focal area (International Waters, Biodiversity and Climate Change). The International Waters Operational Programs include the following: WATERBODY-BASED1) Transboundary Freshwater Basin Component; focus on "hot spots" 2) Large Marine Ecosystem (LME) Component Projects in this OP focus mainly on serious threatened waterbodies and the most imminent transboundary threats to their ecosystems. As a result, priority is placed on changing sectoral policies and activities which lie at the root of the most serious transboundary concerns. GEF can fund the transaction costs of countries collaborating to prioritize waterbody concerns and to determine anticipated baseline and other actions to address these concerns. In turn, based on countries' commitments to modify sectoral policies or activities, GEF may fund the agreed incremental cost of additional measures to address the transboundary priorities.. INTEGRATED LAND AND WATERMultiple Focal Area: Projects in this OP focus on integrated management approaches to the efficient and sustainable use of land and water resources on an areawide basis,a gain with an emphasis on identifying and implementing the sectoral changes needed to achieve sustainable development. Projects will often provide global benefits in the other focal areas as well as in the area of land degradation. Prevention of damage to threatened waters is stressed vs. a focus on remediation of damaged systems as in the Waterbody-based OP. CONTAMINANT-BASED: 1)Land-based Activities Demonstration Component 2)Global Contaminants Component (including Persistent Organic Pollutants) 3)Ship-Related Contaminants Component This OP includes projects that help demonstrate ways of overcoming barriers to the adoption of best practices, waste minimization strategies and pollution prevention measures that limit contamination of the international waters environment. Projects are encouraged where an imminent threat exists and neighboring countries wish to collaborate. GEF can fund the incremental costs of priority actions needed to remediate the negative transboundary effects of contaminants. The following types of activities can be funded under each
of the three International Waters Operational Programmes:
INTEGRATED LAND AND WATER
GEF Project Example: Environmental Management in
Danube River Basin
*SAPs are somewhat analogous to Enabling Activites in the other focal areas; they are GEF-funded projects designed to lay the foundation for the development and implementation of a fully elaborated project within one of the Operational Programmes. In a SAP, a group of countries works with one or more of the Implementing Agencies to identify the priority transboundary water-related environmental concerns and the sectoral policy causes of the problems and threats, agree on needed actions and priorities, and determine the associated incremental costs. As with the other GEF focal areas, three types of grants are available:
INTERNET INFORMATION For documents of interest on the internet/World Wide Web, you may find the following addresses (with subject areas listed) helpful.
UNDP SEED HOME PAGE
http://www.undp.org/seed/seed.html
GEF SECRETARIAT HOME PAGE
http://www.worldbank.org/
A,B,C's OF THE GEF
E
Executing Agency - The body or oganisation that is designated by an Implementing Agency to carry out a GEF project. Executing agencies can include governemnts, UN agencies (such as UNOPS, UNDDSMS, FAO, ILO, UNESCO and UNIDO), NGOs, and multilateral development banks. (Note: the GEF definition of executing agency differs from that which is commonly used in other areas of UNDP). F Focal Area - The four areas in which the GEF funds projects - climate change, biodiversity conservation, international waters, and ozone layer depletion. Land degradation - primarily desertification and deforestation, G as they relate to the four focal areas - is also eligible for funding.
I
MEETING THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT ADVISORS UNDP's Sustainable Development Advisors came to headquarters for one week in September. During this time there was an opportunity to have a briefing session with the GEF staff, aside from the meetings that were held within respective Bureaux. Interviews were conducted with some of the SDA's which will be featured in the next few newsletters. In this issue, Dr. Carol James, SDA, Trinidad & Tobago is featured highlighting activities in the region. The UNDP Trinidad & Tobago office has hosted consultations at a national level August 26-30 to discuss two
regional projects and two national projects with sectoral agencies, NGOs and donor organizations. Out of this
meeting came the formulation of the biodiversity strategies from Trinidad & Tobago and Dominica. A
mini-meeting will be funded by RBLAC in Dominica 2-4 October to examine three levels of activities. Regarding the GEF, governments feel there is difficulty accessing funding because of the size of the countries. The good news is that because of the enabling activities in climate change and biodiversity, an opportunity is presented that small countries can benefit from. The medium-size prjects (when approved by the GEF Council) will also provide opportunities.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS GEF COUNCIL The second meeting of the GEF Council this year will be held next week - 81-0 October 1996. Statements on Behalf of the Conventions (BD & CC) and STAP GEF Assembly [ GEF Secretariat ~ Downloads ~ Comments ] |
