About Global Environment Facility (GEF):
- It was established on the eve of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit of UNFCC to help tackle our planet’s most pressing environmental problems.
- It is a family of funds dedicated to confronting biodiversity loss, climate change, pollution, and strains on land and ocean health.
- It provides financial assistance for five 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).
- The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
- It has 184 member countries, including India.
- The governing council is the main governing body of GEF which comprises 32 members appointed by constituencies of GEF member countries (14 from developed countries, 16 from developing countries, and two from economies in transition).
- Its secretariat is based in Washington, D.C.
