The Conference of the Parties,
1. Welcomes the report of the Global Environment Facility to the Conference of the Parties at its twenty-fifth session, including the responses of the Global Environment Facility to previous guidance from the Conference of the Parties;
2. Also welcomes the work undertaken by the Global Environment Facility during its reporting period (1 July 2018 to 30 June 2019), including
(a) The approval of climate change projects and programmes approved during the reporting period under the Global Environment Facility Trust Fund, the Least Developed Countries Fund and the Special Climate Change Fund;
(b) The approval of minimum requirements for Global Environment Facility Trust Fund agencies on anti-money-laundering and countering the financing of terrorism;
(c) The composition of the Private Sector Advisory Group;
(d) The implementation of the gender equality policy and the approval of the gender implementation strategy;
(e) The approval of the policy on monitoring and the evaluation policy;
3. Welcomes with appreciation the contributions made by developed country Parties to the Least Developed Countries Fund during the reporting period, amounting to USD 184 million,8 and the contribution made by Switzerland to the Special Climate Change Fund during the reporting period, amounting to USD 3.3 million, and encourages additional voluntary financial contributions to these funds to provide support for adaptation;
4. Invites the Global Environment Facility to continue its efforts to minimize the time between the approval of project concepts, the development and approval of the related projects, and the disbursement of funds by its implementing/executing agencies to the recipient countries of those projects;
5. Urges the Global Environment Facility to continue to report to the Conference of the Parties any change or update to the eligibility criteria for accessing the Global Environment Facility resources, including the System for Transparent Allocation of Resources country allocation, in its future reports to the Conference of the Parties;
6. Encourages the Global Environment Facility, as part of the overall performance study of its seventh replenishment, to analyse any challenges faced and lessons learned by the Global Environment Facility and its implementing agencies in applying the updated policy on co-financing of the Global Environment Facility and report back to the Conference of the Parties on the outcomes of the study;
7. Also encourages the Global Environment Facility, in collaboration with the Global Environment Facility country focal points, to promote the use of technology needs assessments to facilitate the financing and implementation of technology actions prioritized by countries in their technology needs assessments, within the scope of its mandate and operational modalities;
8. Invites the Global Environment Facility to consider:
(a) Exploring ways to include in the fourth phase of the global project on technology needs assessments the least developed countries and small island developing States that have never undertaken a technology needs assessment and have not been included in the fourth phase;
(b) Relevant recommendations contained in the report prepared by the Technology Executive Committee on the updated evaluation of the Poznan strategic programme on technology transfer,9 within the scope of its mandate and its operational modalities;
9. Also invites the Global Environment Facility, in accordance with its existing mandates and in collaboration with the Green Climate Fund, to report on lessons learned in supporting developing countries in collecting and managing information and data on adaptation;
10. Requests the Global Environment Facility, in administering the Least Developed Countries Fund, to continue facilitating the smooth transition of countries graduating from least developed country status by continuing to provide approved funding through the Least Developed Countries Fund until the completion of projects approved by the Least Developed Countries Fund Council prior to those countries’ graduation from least developed country status;
11. Takes note of decision -/CMA.210 and decides to transmit to the Global Environment Facility the guidance from the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement contained in paragraphs 12–13 below, in accordance with decision 1/CP.21, paragraph 61;
12. Welcomes the report of the Global Environment Facility to the Conference of the Parties at its twenty-fifth session, 11 including the list of actions taken by the Global Environment Facility in response to guidance received from the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement;
13. Requests the Global Environment Facility, as an operating entity of the Financial Mechanism, under its seventh replenishment and throughout its replenishment cycles, to adequately support developing country Parties in preparing their first and subsequent biennial transparency reports, in accordance with Article 13, paragraphs 14–15, of the Paris Agreement and decision 18/CMA.1;
14. Invites Parties to submit to the secretariat via the submission portal, 12 no later than 10 weeks prior to the twenty-sixth session of the Conference of the Parties (November 2020), their views and recommendations on elements to be taken into account in developing guidance to the Global Environment Facility;
15. Requests the Standing Committee on Finance to take into consideration the submissions referred to in paragraph 14 above when preparing its draft guidance to the Global Environment Facility for consideration by the Conference of the Parties and the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement;
16. Also requests the Global Environment Facility to include in its annual report to the Conference of the Parties information on the steps that it has taken to implement the guidance provided in this decision.
