By Grace Q. Bryant
The Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Wilson Tarpeh, has disclosed that the Global Environment Facility (GEF) has provided US$23 billion and has mobilized US$129 billion in co-financing for more than 5,000 national and regional projects.
Director Tarpeh made his disclosure at the opening of a four-day Global Environment Facility Expanded Constituency Workshops held at Cape Hotel in Monrovia.
The dialogue brings together 70 participants from 38 institutions from Government Line Ministries, Agencies and Commissions, Non-Governmental Institutions, Civil society Organizations, community members, Academic and Research institutions, the Private Sector, as well as partners donors and superintendents from the 15 political subdivisions.
The four-day Constituency Workshops will be followed by a two-day National Dialogue from February 19-20, 2024
According to Director Tarpeh, the GEF was established to help tackle the earth’s most pressing environmental problems and provides funding to developing countries and countries with economies in transition to meet the objectives of the international environmental conventions and agreements.
“GEF provides grants, blended financing, and policy support to help developing countries address their biggest environmental priorities, and adhere to international environmental conventions over the past three decades,” he expressed.
He added that GEF is made up of a partnership of 18 agencies — including United Nations agencies, multilateral development banks, national entities, and international NGOs — working with 183 countries to address the world’s most challenging environmental issues.
“It is a financial mechanism for five major international environmental conventions: the Minamata Convention on Mercury, the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD), the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC),” he noted.
He further that it supports multi-stakeholder alliances to preserve threatened ecosystems on land and in the oceans, build greener cities, boost food security, and promote clean energy for a more prosperous, climate-resilient world.
He revealed that the GEF will also hold an Expanded Constituency Workshop (ECW) for West Africa, as part of the GEF Country Support Program, including participants from Benin, Cote D’Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Togo.
Tarpeh told participants that the event presents an opportunity for GEF national actors to meet with their counterparts from other countries in the region, staff from the GEF Secretariat, the GEF Agencies, and other GEF partners to share lessons and experiences from the development, and the implementation of GEF projects and their integration within national policy frameworks. The event is also intended to encourage coordination among national officials and allow better understanding among constituency members.
For his part, the Minister of Agriculture, Alexander Nuetah, applauded GEF for its contributions to improving the natural environment, promoting and protecting biodiversity, addressing climate change, and responding to other environmental issues in Liberia and the region through the Small Grants Program, the Least Developed Country Fund, and STAR Allocation.
According to him, the Government of Liberia is particularly grateful for the resources invested by GEF in Liberia over the years and applauds GEF for the recent endorsement of a Project Preparatory Grant of US$200,000 for the preparation of a 10-million-dollar proposal to strengthen agricultural resilience in Liberia.
Adding that these investments are having an impact on vulnerable populations and communities in Liberia that are increasingly impacted by climate change and other environmental issues but more needs to be done.
Neuteh emphasized the important role Liberia plays as a biodiversity hotspot and carbon sink, which presents an economic challenge for the country, thus the need for increasing investments for nature-based livelihoods, restoration of degraded landscapes, and addressing climate change and biodiversity in communities across the country.
“As a least developed country, Liberia bears little responsibility for climate change, but its geographical, socioeconomic, and climate profiles make it particularly vulnerable, with impacts on key economic sectors that support national revenue and the livelihoods of its people,” he noted.
He also emphasizes that the government of Liberia has made clear its objectives of leveraging its forest assets to mobilize climate finance for implementing the Nationally Determined Contributions and to accelerate broader national development through inclusive green growth thus calling on GEF and other partners to support Liberia in this drive, and stressed that these conversations are necessary to increase understanding of GEF strategies and policies and help the government and other stakeholders make informed decisions on participation and coordination in the various GEF initiatives so that the maximum benefits are derived.
Nueteh pointed out that the workshop is an opportunity to reflect and find ways in which global environment concepts can be integrated into national strategies and policies that align with the development vision of countries.
He however highlighted that the Government of Liberia is interested in exploring how it can continue to leverage experiences and opportunities for engaging with GEF to enhance benefits for the people of Liberia.
Meanwhile, the Resident Representative of UNDP Liberia, Louis Kuupen, assured UNDP’s commitment to working in this field by providing support and ensuring that the program and project are finalized.
GEF Country Relations Officer, Madam Susan Waithaka, said, “We are particularly delighted that we are able to be here to participate and engage in countries that this meeting which was postponed since last year,” adding, “We are grateful that Liberians and the new government were able to accommodate us in Monrovia.”
