MEDIA RELEASE
Released By:
The Minister for Foreign Affairs Alexander Downer and The Minister for the Environment David Kemp
We are pleased to announce Australia has significantly increased its
contribution to the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the world's major
multilateral financing mechanism for addressing environmental challenges.
Australia pledged $68.2 million to the Facility, an increase of 58 percent
over its previous contribution, at a meeting held in Washington overnight.
The GEF was established in 1991 to address four critical threats to the
global environment: biodiversity loss, climate change, degradation of
international waters and ozone depletion.
The GEF is the single largest source of funding for the global environment
and is the main source of financing for the UN Framework Convention on Climate
Change, the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, and the Stockholm Convention
on Persistent Organic Pollutants.
Over the past decade, the GEF has committed US$4.2 billion in grants, and has
leveraged US$11 billion in additional financing from public and private sources,
for more than 1,000 projects in 160 less developed countries.
With this pledge, Australia will have committed over $184 million to the GEF
since 1991 and has co-funded several GEF projects in the Asia-Pacific
region.
This significant increase in funding demonstrates the Government's commitment
to addressing global environmental issues in a practical and effective manner,
particularly in the lead up to the World Summit for Sustainable Development to
be held in Johannesburg later this month.
Contacts
Jo Elsom (AusAID) 02 6206 4960 / 0412 804 489
Chris Kenny (Mr Downer's Office) 0419 206 890
Catherine Job (Dr Kemp's Office) 0408 648 400