Environment

Government signs Global Environment Facility (GEF) Grant Agreement with the World Bank

16.08.2017

The Government of India and the World Bank has signed a US dollar 24.64 million grant from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) in order to improve ecosystem of the country. The Grant Agreement from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) of the World Bank is for financing “Ecosystems Service Improvement Project”. The size of Project is US Dollar 24.64 million. The project will be financed by the World Bank from its GEF Trust Fund. The duration of project is five years. The agreement was signed by Joint Secretary (MI), Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Ministry of Finance on behalf of the Government of India and Mr. Hisham Abdo Kahin, Acting Country Director for India on behalf of the World Bank.

The Ecosystem Services Improvement Project is aimed at protecting, restoring and enhancing India’s forest cover and will help in maintaining ecological balance. The Project will be implemented in the States of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh through the Indian Council of Forestry Research & Education under the National Mission for Green India. The Project would help in strengthening the institutional capacity of the Departments of Forestry and Community Organisations, to enhance forest ecosystem services and improve the livelihoods of forest dependent communities in Central Indian Highlands.

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) was established during the 1992 Rio Earth Summit to help tackle our planet’s most pressing environmental problems. Since then, the GEF has provided over $17 billion in grants and mobilized an additional $88 billion in financing for more than 4000 projects in 170 countries. The GEF has a unique partnership of 18 agencies including with United Nations agencies, multilateral Development Banks, National Entities and International NGOs working with 183 Countries to address the world’s most challenging environmental issues. The GEF also has a large network of civil society organizations, works closely with the private sector around the world, and receives continuous inputs from an independent evaluation office and a world-class scientific panel. It has a financial mechanism for 5 major international environmental conventions: the Minamata Convention on Mercury, the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD), the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Now, with the help of help of International grant as well its specialized know-how in forestry and eco-system, lot of improvement and efficiency relating to environmental issues will be seen in coming time.

Tags : World Bank Grant Ecosystem Improvement

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