The GEF Trust Fund

The GEF Trust Fund is the common funding resource for all six focal areas in which the GEF is active. Besides climate change, these are: biodiversity; international waters; protection of the ozone layer; persistent organic pollutants (POPs); and land degradation. The GEF has been designated therefore to operate not only the Convention's financial mechanism, but also those of the CBD, the CCD and the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. It also operates in close connection with the Montreal Protocol and various regional and international water agreements.

The GEF Trust fund was established in 1994, and succeeded the Global Environment Trust Fund (GET) of the pilot phase (1991-1994).

Bank is Trustee of the GEF Trust Fund. Donor nations commit money every four years through a process called GEF replenishment. The Trust Fund has had four replenishments so far.

GEF assistance takes the form of projects conducted by the three GEF implementing agencies: UNEP, the UNDP, and the World Bank. Since 1999, the GEF has also expanded opportunities for so-called "Executing Agencies" (in particular Regional Development Banks (RDBs) to implement projects.

Since 1991, the GEF has committed approximately US$1.98 billion in grants from its Trust Fund to climate change activities (as of August 2005). During the same period, it has leveraged an additional amount of more than US$10.4 billion through co-financing from bilateral agencies, recipient countries and the private sector. Co-financing of GEF projects thus exceeded GEF's own funding by a factor of more than five.