Roundtable: The GEF’s Future with New Agreements and Emerging Themes

Building on recent landmark decisions on the high seas agreement and biodiversity, as well as the ongoing discussion on plastic pollution including the marine environment, the GEF Assembly offers an opportunity for a critical stocktaking for the future of the GEF with new agreements/landmark decisions and for exploring emerging modalities and innovative approaches to address these emerging themes for the global environment. The new and emerging global agreements and frameworks that are relevant to the future of the GEF, include the Biodiversity beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) agreement, the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) on Plastic Pollution, and Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) for the Convention on Biological Diversity. Panelists will exchange views and perspectives on how the partnership can evolve as the GEF’s mandate expands and will include a panel on new and emerging agreements and a second panel on emerging modalities and innovative approaches.

Emerging Modalities and Innovative Approaches 

Moderator

• Nathalie Bernasconi, Interim Co-President and Co-CEO, International Institute for Sustainable Development 

Panelists

• Warren Evans, Special Senior Advisor, Office of the President, Asian Development Bank  

• Monika Stankiewicz, Executive Secretary, Minamata Convention on Mercury

• Annette Windmeisser, Head of Climate Finance Division, German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development; GEF Council Member  

• Winner of the Inclusive GEF Assembly Challenge Program

• Andrew Deutz, Managing Director, Global Policy, Institutions and Conservation Finance, The Nature Conservancy