Address by the Hon. James Fletcher, Minister of Sustainable Address by the Hon. James Fletcher, Minister of Sustainable Development, Energy, Science and Technology of Saint Lucia to the 5th GEF Assembly on behalf of the GEF Caribbean Constituency, Moon Palace Hotel, Cancun, Mexico, 29 May, 2014. Mr. President, Minister for the Environment of Mexico, Madame Naoko Ishii, Chief Executive Officer and Chairperson of the Global Environment Facility Honourable Ministers Excellencies Distinguished Delegates Ladies and Gentlemen I have the honour, in this International Year of Small Island Developing States, to deliver this statement on behalf of the GEF Caribbean Constituency, which comprises the following countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago and Suriname. At the outset, allow me to express our gratitude to the Government of the United Mexican States for the excellent hospitality and arrangements that have been made in the hosting of this 5th GEF Assembly. We would also like to thank the GEF CEO and her team at the secretariat for all of their excellent work. Mr. President, Our Constituency recognizes the role and importance of the GEF as the main source of multilateral environmental financing. The creation of the GEF was a significant global achievement. We thank the Donor governments for replenishing the GEF Trust Fund, the LDCF and the SCCF. We congratulate the GEF and the Donors for a difficult but robust replenishment, which is particularly important in these challenging economic times. It sends a strong positive signal for the protection of the global environment. We would like, of course, to have seen more funds pledged and commend the Governments of Mexico and Brazil for the increase in their contribution. Paragraph 265 of RIO+20 Outcome Document “The Future We Want”, encourages the GEF to take additional steps within its mandate to make resources more accessible to meet country needs for the national implementation of their international environmental commitments. It also calls on the GEF to further simplify procedures and assistance to developing countries, in particular Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States, in accessing resources from the GEF. The GEF, as impressive as it is, can be further improved. These particular improvements are absolutely necessary for the SIDS and LDCs to successfully access funds at the rate dictated by the science. We wish to congratulate the GEF for allowing each Eastern Caribbean island that was part of the GEF SGP sub-regional modality of operations to transfer to a country modality. We further congratulate the GEF for exempting the SIDS and the LDCs from graduation from the SGP. Mr. President, I wish to assure you that the SGP remains one of the best delivery mechanisms of the GEF, which we fully support and would like to see grow from strength to strength in the region and globally. Mr. President, Notwithstanding the successful replenishment, please allow us to highlight areas for further immediate work. In the Biodiversity Focal Area, the Donors did not meet the expectations articulated at the Eleventh Meeting of the Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity, to double financial flows in 2015. For all of us, SIDS biodiversity conservation is important to our economies, as well as a means of adapting to the adverse effects of global climate change. The stated co-financing ratio of 6:1 will place LDCs and SIDS in an extremely difficult position. However, we expect greater flexibility for our group. This is particularly important within the context of the IPCC AR5 that indicates that all developing countries, particularly SIDS and LDCs, will have to pay more for adaptation. In our view, this additional burden should be considered as co-financing and we will follow the discussion in the Council as the GEF seeks to implement projects. Further, we would like to reiterate that the co-financing ratio should not be used as a project prioritization mechanism for programs not under the STAR. We will continue to remind the GEF Council and the secretariat of the Special Status of Small Island Developing States (SIDS), as recognized at the UN and in the Articles of the various MEAs which the GEF serves as the financial mechanism. Mr. President, We highlight here the request of the SIDS to raise the floor of the STAR allocation to US$10 Million, which was not taken into account by the Replenishment negotiations. We also note that the floor of the Least Developed Countries was increased to a base limit of only US$ 6 million. We do hope that the GEF secretariat will work with donors to assist the SIDS and LDCs to receive additional funding from the SCCF and the LDCF. Mr. President, The increase of the weight of GDP per capita to 0.08 within the allocation formula of the STAR does not benefit many of our Caribbean Countries, and does not take into account the impacts of Climate Change on the economics and our ecosystem services. In response to the findings of the Independent Evaluation Unit on project cycle, we call on the STAP to assist the GEF secretariat to develop an efficient project cycle that responds to the speed dictated by science and that respects the special circumstances of SIDS. We are hoping that the GEF can also consider if an LDC or SIDS experiences damage from extreme weather events that the country may be exempted from the co-financing requirements. Moreover, we trust that the project cycle will be shortened to respond to immediate needs. Once again, there is a role for the STAP to ensure that these administrative rules are adjusted in a manner that is based on science. Mr. President, We express our appreciation to Ambassador Fernando Lugris for the principled way he represented our GRULAC Region during the four meetings of the GEF 6 Replenishment. We thank him and are indebted to him for his valiant efforts in these very difficult negotiations. Mr. President, The GEF is one of the most effective programs that support efforts in the environment. Our constituency will work constructively and diligently to ensure that GEF 6 is a success. We call upon Donor countries to further support SIDS and LDCs by helping them to meet their co-financing requirement by providing additional resources as countries prepare their project portfolios. We would like to thank the donors for recent pledges to the LDCF and SCCF and we call on the GEF and its agencies to program these as soon as possible. Mr. President and all those present here today, this month marks the start of the hurricane season in this region. Despite our increasing vulnerability to the adverse effects of Climate Change, we remain resolute and determined to contribute, as best we can, to Global efforts to a low carbon future, where our terrestrial and marine Biodiversity continues to provide ecological services, where our peoples are safe, our lands are healthy, productive and free from pollution, and our economies stable and viable. This indeed is the future we want. Mr. President, delegates and friends, I thank you.
Posted on: Fri, 30 May 2014 15:28:24 +0000
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