Library

This analytical report discusses the impact of climate change on poverty reduction and development. It stresses that generally attention has focused on mitigation – slowing the pace of climate change – and adaptation – helping people cope with its effects. However, remarkably little has been said or written about the people who will feel the impact most – the poor rural people of developing countries – and even less attention has been given to how they can contribute to slowing its advance.

This activity report outlines the role of agriculture in climate change adaptation and how IFAD and GEF are contributing to adaptation in this sector. The GEF supports actions to address climate change by financing mitigation and adaptation activities. As a GEF executing agency, IFAD can also assist developing countries in accessing GEF grants for adaptation. There are currently three international financing sources for adaptation, all administered by the GEF: the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF), the Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF), and the Piloting an Operational Approach to Adaptation (SPA) under the GEF trust fund.

This document addresses the issue of gender and desertification. It looks at how women and men have different roles and needs, and often their access to land, water and other assets is not equal. Lessons from IFAD-supported projects show that both women and men benefit from a gender approach that reinforces their joint participation in restoring the productivity of degraded land, and ensures that women are involved in planning and in carrying out dryland development activities.

This analytical report explains why renewable energy has been a fundamental pillar of the operations of the GEF, and looks at how the institution has demonstrated unique leadership by investing in initiatives in almost 100 countries and economies in transition.

The activity report consists of two parts. Part I reports project activities approved by the GEF during the reporting period from September 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009. They include both climate change mitigation and adaptation activities funded from the GEF Trust Fund, the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF), and the Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF). Part II describes GEF’s response to convention guidance.

This analytical report looks at how and where GEF is investing funding to increase energy efficiency and decrease emissions. Today the GEF is one of the public sector’s largest funders for energy efficiency in the world, with direct investments of US$850 million in more than 90 developing and transition countries and an additional US$5.9 billion in cofinancing. These investments are expected to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 1.3 billion tonnes by 2020.

This analytical report presents the different ways in which GEF is supporting adaption action and looks at specific projects in a number of countries. It addresses particularly the issue of finance and the creation of new climate change funds following GEF’s Strategic Priority on Adaptation. Through this program, the GEF has financed the first concrete adaptation projects, implementing measures for the specific purpose of reducing vulnerability and increasing the adaptive capacity of vulnerable communities and the ecosystems on which their lives depend.

This technical document aims to describe the GEF programmatic approach, a long-term and strategic arrangement of individual yet interlinked projects that aim at achieving large-scale impacts on the global environment. This approach enables countries to achieve such impacts through (a) strengthening country ownership; (b) promoting horizontal and vertical integration of global environmental concerns into decision making; and (c) increasing opportunities for cofinancing from a variety of other sources. Furthermore, the document aims to enhance understanding among GEF’s wide range of stakeholders on the comparative advantages of the GEF programmatic approach.

This activity report summarises the main outcomes and recommendations of the GEF roundtable on sustainable energy. The roundtable was one of four sponsored by GEF to address critical environmental and sustainable development issues as a contribution to the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD). Each roundtable was held in conjunction with a WSSD preparatory meeting.

This activity report presents the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) and its action to fight climate change.  GEF unites 176 member governments—in partnership with international institutions, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and the private sector—to address global environmental issues while supporting national sustainable development initiatives. It is particularly committed to support the development of renewable energy technologies through innovative financial mechanisms.

This activity report presents a GEF-China partnership in developing new energy programs and approaches that go beyond one-time, stand-alone projects. These programs seek to have a broader, more significant impact – nothing less than structural change at the national level.

This activity report presents GEF’s solar photovoltaic project in the Philippines which is successfully replacing the use of fossil fuel energy. This groundbreaking project combines hydro- and photovoltaic-based power for homes, schools, hospitals, offices, and other users. The key to this demonstration project is its strong emphasis on education and capacity building.

This activity report presents GEF’s work in Sudan to promote solar photovoltaic systems and bring much needed electricity to homes across the country. The GEF solar photovoltaic project seeks to build capacity and awareness and to help the Sudanese government develop policies and regulations that will create an environment favorable to the use of this clean technology.

This activity report looks at the Renewable Energy and Rural Electrification project. This project seeks to reduce the barriers to the use of climate-friendly energy systems and to develop the market for renewables.

This activity report presents GEF’s strategy concerning renewable energy technologies. This strategy rests on the assumption that investments and follow-up can reduce the costs of renewable energy technologies and enable them to become competitive with conventional fossil fuel-based technologies. GEF supports the development of renewable energy by providing funding for renewable energy projects in developing countries.

This analytical report presents the main barriers to the widespread use of renewable energy and how GEF projects are helping to overcome them. Main problems are the high up-front costs, particularly for installing equipment, plus the limited resources of the people—most often the rural poor—who need the technology. To some degree, strengthening capacity building, promoting enabling environments, developing policy frameworks, and improving demands for renewable energy technologies can help mitigate steep transaction costs and underdeveloped markets.

This activity report explains how the GEF is supporting renewable energy projects, giving several examples, mainly from Mexico.

This analytical report presents GEF’s work with 176 member governments to address global environmental issues while supporting national sustainable development initiatives. The document analyzes particularly GEF’s activities in Bangladesh to expand the creation and use of renewable energy in the country. Capacity-building and access to financing are essential elements to attain this objective.  

This analytical report covers GEF’s climate change projects that catalyze technology transfer, particularly by providing information, creating an enabling environment that strengthens local capacity, and jump-starting the local markets for these technologies.

This analytical report looks at GEF’s climate change projects that strengthen countries’ capacity to reduce poverty and promote sustainable livelihoods, thereby creating an enabling environment for mitigating and adapting to climate change. Capacity building is a fundamental element of GEF’s support to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).