The Global Environment Facility (GEF) is a mechanism for international cooperation for the purpose of providing new, and additional grant and concessional funding to meet the incremental costs of measures to achieve agr eed global environmental benefits. GEF operational programmes must fit within the focal areas of:

• biological diversity

 In carrying out its mission, the GEF adheres to key operational principles based on the two conventions (the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Framework Convention on Climate Change), the GEF Instrument, and Council decis ions. It also establishes operational guidance for international waters and ozone activities, the second being consistent with the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the Ozone Layer, and its amendments. The GEF has thus emerged as both a facilit ator and a funding mechanism for integrating global environmental concerns into the development process, and for realizing the goals of the environmental conventions and the Montreal Protocol.

 In addition, focal area-specific enabling activities (inventories, compilation of information, policy analysis, strategies and action plans, which represent a basic building block of GEF assistance to countries) and shor t-term response measures (urgent, high priority activities to meet immediate needs which GEF will occasionally fund, even though they are not part of the overall operational programme and are not enabling activities) are also considered eligible for G EF funding.

 The procedural steps in the GEF Project Cycle include:

 UNDP has the prime responsibility for technical assistance, training, capacity building and other pre-investment activities related to GEF.

 The UNDP GEF Programme in Pakistan was introduced in the early 90’s, by way of workshops and seminars outlining the GEF funding mechanism and identifying focal areas. In early 1995, field implemen-tation of the first GEF project i n Pakistan began in the area of biodiversity conservation with the initiation of the rural community-based biodiversity conservation project in the northern mountainous areas - a unique approach, the efficacy of which was yet to be tested in Pakistan. The fuel efficiency project in the focal area of climate change was the second to roll off. Some more projects are now in the pipe-line, as follows:

On-going Projects:

 PAK/93/G41: (Cost: $ 2.5 million)

This Phase has been designed to address long-term project objectives of assessing the effectiveness of rural village management of wild species and/or habitats to conserve biodiversity, and to determine how g ovt. agencies and NGOs can assist rural villages to develop biodiversity management plans with adequate controls to prevent over-exploitation. The Mid-term Evaluation Report of the project has concluded that the PRIF Phase has strongly proved the efficacy of a community-based approach towards biodiversity conservation and its sustainable use, and it lays a solid foundation on which to build up the full scale project.

 PAK/92/G31: (Cost: $ 7.0 million)

The Project seeks to reduce green-house-gas emissions through improving vehicles’ fuel efficiency and urban infrastructure, based on well-known methods which Pakistan does not currently have the capacity to i mplement. It builds capacity of officials to review transport options, expands the pilot project to tune-up urban vehicle engines, evaluates on-going programmes, and develops options with regard to technology transfer, regulations and pricing.

 Projects in Pipeline:

 Maintaining Biodiversity in Pakistan through Rural Community Development - Full scale Project

 Identification & Commercialization of Major Renewable Energy Sources in Pakistan

 Wetlands Management Project

  Pakistan is among the 33 countries of the world in which the GEF-SGP is operational. The programme was launched in Pakistan in Sept.1993 to provide grant assistance to NGOs/CBOs working in the GEF thematic areas. Under the S GP in Pakistan, a total of 50 projects have been approved to date, (26:completed; 22:on-going; 2:pipe-line) 60% focusing on climate change, and 40% on biodiversity conservation.

 Further information on grant assistance can be obtained from Pakistan’s National Coordinator GEF-SGP based in UNDP Islamabad Office.