Minister for Environment Energy and Climate Change attends the 6th GEF Assembly

The Minister for Environment Energy and Climate Change is attending the 6^th Global Environment Facility (GEF) Assembly and associated meetings taking place in Da Nang, Vietnam on the 27^th – 28^th June 2018.

In his statement before the 6^th Assembly, he thanked the GEF for organizing a successful meeting and the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam for the warm hospitality afforded to him and his small delegation.

Minister Wallace Cosgrow congratulated the GEF for successfully negotiating and concluding the replenishment of funds for GEF 7.

He stated that the GEF has been an important partner in environmental management, providing assistance to facilitate the delivery of several multilateral environmental agreements.

The government and the civil society organizations with the support of GEF have together been able to make significant progress in tackling many issues through a series of projects under different thematic areas.

These projects have provided essential support to development planning processes, legal framework for environmental and land use planning, land management issues, protected area management, and mainstreaming biodiversity into key economic sectors amongst many others.

The establishment of the Project Coordination Unit in 2008 is to manage and implement GEF projects has brought about greater efficiency together with the support of the UNDP as our implementing partner.

The Minister pointed out that Seychelles is one of the recipients benefiting with the largest amount of GEF funding per capita and that he believes we have made excellent use of the support.

The Seychelles is currently implementing two GEF 6 projects, one focusing on piloting a ridge to reef approach that addresses priorities for improved management and conservation of upland forest, agricultural ecosystems as well as coastal and marine ecosystems and the other in the blue economy sector focusing on the development of sustainable fisheries and support for the execution of our marine spatial planning process and piloting of a blue bond mechanism.

The Minister also urged the GEF to continue to take Small Island Developing states unique circumstances into account and to address them in a manner that is transparent and inclusive.

The 6^th Assembly is also being attended by the Principal Secretary for Energy and Climate Change, Mr Wills Agricole who is also the GEF Operational Focal Point for Seychelles.

The Global Environment Facilities (GEF) was established on the eve of 1992 Rio Earth Summit. The objectives is to tackle our planet’s most pressing environmental problems. The Assembly which is held every four years is the GEF’s highest governing body and gathers representatives of all its 183-member countries in partnership with International Institutions, Civil Society Organizations and Private Sectors to address global environmental issues while supporting national sustainable development initiatives. The Sixth GEF Assembly was an opportunity to celebrate past achievements and the launch of its seventh replenishment cycle (GEF-7).