Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07SUVA463
2007-09-23 20:14:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Suva
Cable title:  

GEF CEO EXPOUNDS 100 MILLION USD PACIFIC ALLIANCE FOR

Tags:  SENV EFIN EAID WS XV GEF 
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SUVA 000463 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

BANGKOK FOR REO AND USAID

COMMERCE FOR NOAA

MANILA FOR ADB REP

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SENV EFIN EAID WS XV GEF
SUBJECT: GEF CEO EXPOUNDS 100 MILLION USD PACIFIC ALLIANCE FOR
SUSTAINABILITY

REF: SUVA 245 (NOTAL)

SUVA 00000463 001.2 OF 003


UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SUVA 000463

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

BANGKOK FOR REO AND USAID

COMMERCE FOR NOAA

MANILA FOR ADB REP

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SENV EFIN EAID WS XV GEF
SUBJECT: GEF CEO EXPOUNDS 100 MILLION USD PACIFIC ALLIANCE FOR
SUSTAINABILITY

REF: SUVA 245 (NOTAL)

SUVA 00000463 001.2 OF 003



1. SUMMARY: GEF CEO Monique Barbut laid out her vision for the GEF
Pacific Alliance for Sustainability (GEF-PAS) on September 10 at a
one-day event for GEF focal points in advance of the annual SPREP
meeting in Apia. Barbut explained that GEF-PAS, a country-driven
sub-regional program, could provide as much as USD 100 million to
Pacific island countries over the next three years but only if they
act quickly. On September 24, the World Bank, which has been
charged with helping countries to formulate a single GEF-PAS
submission to the April meeting of the GEF Council, circulated a
document laying out next steps. This document, which reflects a
timetable developed at the Apia meeting, requires every Pacific
island country to prepare a prioritized wish list of projects by
October 15. Countries and implementing agencies are deeply
concerned that such short deadlines could result in this
unprecedented opportunity being lost. End Summary.


2. Global Environment Facility (GEF) CEO Monique Barbut elaborated
on her vision for the future of GEF in the Pacific in Apia, Samoa,
on September 10 at a meeting with environmental officials and GEF
focal points from across the region, who were in town for the annual
Pacific Regional Environmental Organization (SPREP) meeting
(septel). The event was attended by members of the U.S. delegation
to the SPREP meeting. Expanding on the announcement of the GEF
Pacific Alliance for Sustainability (GEF-PAS) that she made at her
meeting with Pacific leaders in Washington in May, Barbut identified
three objectives for the initiative: providing "on the ground
solutions" for adapting to the impacts of a changing environment,
increasing resources available to countries, and putting national
governments in the driver's seat.


3. Barbut told participants that the first objective of providing
"on the ground solutions" will be achieved by replacing the existing
patchwork of small, isolated projects with a more comprehensive and
programmatic approach. The second objective, increasing resources,
has been the most commented upon aspect of GEF-PAS. The initiative

holds out the promise of making as much as USD 100 million available
to Pacific island countries over the next three years. Although not
all of this is new money, it represents a potential dramatic
increase over historical GEF funding, which totals only USD 86
million over the past fifteen years. Finally, GEF-PAS will be built
around national priorities and will diminish the role of regional
organizations in developing project proposals. In keeping with the
central role of national governments, it will expand eligibility for
GEF small grants from NGOs only to include Pacific island
governments as well. Barbut held up the Micronesia Challenge and
Coral Triangle Initiative as examples of regional undertakings that
embody a broad programmatic approach as well as multi-sectoral and
multinational partnerships, that have been assigned high priority by
national governments, and that can, therefore, benefit from the
greater availability of GEF funding that GEF-PAS will provide.


4. Meeting participants were asked to bring to Apia indicative lists
of national priorities. After listening to the country
presentations, Barbut identified land management, biodiversity
conservation, climate change mitigation, food security, and climate
adaptation as dominant national concerns. She also acknowledged the
broad support for a submitted but not yet approved regional project,
"Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change" (PACC). She cautioned,
however, that neither this project nor any other project in the GEF
pipeline would be approved outside the GEF-PAS framework. Even
fully developed project proposals like PACC and Samoa and Fiji's
biodiversity projects would have to be recast as GEF-PAS submissions
and reflected in national priorities. (Comment: In this context,
the fate of the regional "Integrated Water Resources and Wastewater
Management" (IWRM) project (reftel) and other regional and national
initiatives that do not seem to correspond closely to stated
national priorities is uncertain. End Comment.)


5. In response to a question, Barbut clarified that GEF-PAS did not
include any change in the eligibility of territories, which cannot
receive GEF support. Nevertheless, she encouraged countries to

SUVA 00000463 002.2 OF 003


consider incorporating participation by territories into regional
elements of GEF project proposals, since doing so would strengthen
regional partnerships and promote synergies. (Comment:
Participation of territories in GEF projects supporting regional
initiatives could also be a source of co-financing. Some U.S.
expenditures in Guam and the CNMI might, for example, count toward
co-financing requirements for a GEF project to support Micronesia
Challenge-related activities. End Comment.)


6. Barbout's determination to submit GEF-PAS to the GEF Council for
approval in April implies a very tight timeline for countries and
implementing agencies, which must now scramble to identify national
priorities and prepare project descriptions. The World Bank has
accepted the task of assisting countries in this effort and of
compiling national submissions into a single program document for
the GEF Council.


7. On September 24, the Bank circulated a document outlining next
steps and providing a written version of the timeline laid out in
Apia. It has asked GEF eligible countries to provide it with
nationally coordinated lists of prioritized projects and preferred
implementing partners by October 15. In addition, the Bank will
consult with regional and GEF agencies, in coordination with the
Pacific Island Forum Secretariat and SPREP's new GEF advisor, over
the next few weeks and will form a GEF-PAS Working Group to
facilitate national participation.


8. After receiving country submissions, the Bank will compile, with
the GEF-PAS Working Group, a synthesis of priorities, which will be
reviewed with countries on the margins of the Asian Development
Bank's Constituency Meeting in Manila, October 24-25. Countries
will then work with implementing agencies to complete Project
Identification Forms (PIFs)--short 4-5 page documents outlining the
project--by mid-December. The Bank proposes a regional follow-up
meeting in December, perhaps on the margins of the Bali climate
meeting, although some Apia meeting participants expressed concern
that the press of business in Bali might make this impractical. By
the end of January, 2008, finalized PIFs are due to the Bank, which
will provide a draft umbrella GEF-PAS submission for approval by
countries and implementing agencies. The Working Group will then
finalize the documents for submission to the GEF Secretariat by the
end of February.


9. A number of countries expressed concern at the short deadlines,
particularly the October 15 initial submission, and worried that
this unprecedented opportunity could be lost if they were unable to
act quickly enough. In addition to country concerns, the UNDP
representative at the Apia meeting noted that implementing agencies
had their own review and approval processes that would slow and
complicate the formulation of a final submission. In response to
these concerns four Bank-engaged consultants will visit GEF-PAS
countries over the next few weeks to assist in the preparation of
national submissions. According to the Bank document, most
countries have already conducted limited internal consultations to
identify and rank proposed projects. Consequently, the consultants
will spend 3-4 days in each country to help complete the required
internal consultations. The Bank document indicates that Samoa is
alone among GEF-PAS countries in having already conducted
appropriate consultations, and therefore, requires less assistance
with its submission that other countries. According to the Bank,
three countries, PNG, FSM and East Timor have yet to conduct
appropriate consultations and will require "substantial
assistance."


10. The Samoan representative to the GEF event and subsequent SPREP
meeting, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment CEO Tu'u'u
Taule'alo emphasized the importance of every country participating
fully in the process. In the SPREP meeting and in a subsequent
conversation with the Suva-based Pacific Regional Environmental
Officer (REO),Tu'u'u' fretted that the success of the initiative
depended on each country making a timely, high quality submission.
Providing the Council with a list of indicative place-holder
priorities from countries that do not move quickly enough, as

SUVA 00000463 003.2 OF 003


proposed by the World Bank representative in Apia, jeopardizes the
whole enterprise, he said. Calling SPREP's offer to respond to
requests for assistance "inadequate," Tu'u'u lamented SPREP's
failure to demonstrate leadership and initiative by proactively
reaching out to countries. In a separate conversation with the REO,
an experienced SPREP program officer complained that Secretariat
staff has gotten no guidance or direction on how to engage countries
in the GEF-PAS effort.


11. Comment/Recommendation: Countries are under the gun to clearly
articulate their national priorities and to participate effectively
in the evolving World Bank-led process to meld them into a single
submission. The Forum Secretariat, SPREP, and other regional
organizations have the area knowledge and subject matter expertise
to assist the World Bank in this process and to facilitate national
participation by Pacific island governments. The Bank's decision to
enlist the Forum and SPREP is a positive development but a more
active mode of engagement by the regional organizations,
particularly by SPREP, is required. SPREP's passivity may be
explained in part by a desire not to be seen as intruding on the
prerogatives of national governments in the country-driven GEF-PAS
process. Nevertheless, SPREP's active engagement with island
governments and with the World Bank is needed to help ensure full
and effective participation in the development of this initiative.
REO recommends that the U.S. encourage the Secretariat to step up to
the plate. End Comment/Recommendation.

Dinger