The 6th GEF Assembly will attract theparticipation of nearly 1,500 delegates, including the ministers in charge ofenvironment and senior officials from 183 member countries, leaders of theUnited Nations agencies, regional development banks, socio-economicorganisations and businesses.
The Prime Minister of Vietnam will be present at the event.
A series of events are planned for besides the GEF Assembly,such as the meeting of the GEF Council, 14 round-table sessions, forums andmeetings of socio-political organisations, 17 technical meetings of GEF units, about70 sideline events, as well as exhibitions and fact-finding trips funded by theGEF.
The GEF Assembly will review and adopt directions and solutionsto current global environment issues, and allocate resources for environmentprojects during the GEF’s 7th cycle (GEF 7) from 2018-2022.
Nearly 30 countries have committed 4.1 billion USD to theGEF 7 to better protect the future of the planet and human health.
The 6th GEF Assembly will also convey a messageof Vietnam’s strong commitment to sustainable development, especially in deliveringon international commitments on environment to which Vietnam is a member. Itwill also offer Vietnam a chance to foster bilateral and multilateralcooperation, seek opportunities to receive financial and technological support,and strengthen capacity in the fields of climate change response, biodiversity,chemicals, land degradation, sustainable forest management, popularisation ofVietnamese tourism, culture and people.
Established in 1991 with a mission to deal with globalenvironment issues, GEF has funded 14.5 billion USD and raised additional 75.4billion USD for nearly 4,000 relevant projects. With 183 member countries, GEFis an independent financial organisation offering the largest volume of publiccapital to environment projects, mostly in biodiversity preservation, climatechange, land degradation, chemicals and wastes, sustainable forest management andcomprehensive approach.
Vietnam joined the GEF in December 5, 1994, with theMinistry of Natural Resources and Environment serving as the nationalcoordinator.
Since its establishment, GEF Vietnam has raised 457.18million USD for 107 environment projects in different sectors and localities.Of them, 56 are national-level projects worth 153.8 million USD and 47 areregional and global projects worth a total of 294 million USD. Additionally,there are 4 projects funded by the Special Climate Change Fund with a totalvalue of roughly 9 million USD.
During the GEF 6, Vietnam was allocated over 26 million USDfor projects in the fields of climate change (over 11 million USD), landdegradation (over 1.5 million USD) and biodiversity (over 13 million USD). Asof late 2016, the GEF Vietnam Office gave nod to 15 projects worth 24.6 millionUSD in the System for Transparent Allocation of Resources (STAR) of which theGEF consented to 6 projects valued at over 18.8 million USD.
GEF also offered roughly 15 million USD in aid to Vietnam inchemicals and wastes, international waters, sustainable forest management, andcomprehensive approaches.-VNA