Notification 2020-021

Dear Madam/Sir, I am pleased to provide information to Parties on the assessment of the funding needs for the implementation of the Convention and its Protocols for the eighth replenishment period of the Global Environment Facility Trust Fund (GEF-8, July 2022 to June 2026), requested by the Conference of the Parties in decision 14/23. In accordance with the terms of reference for the assessment adopted by the Conference of the Parties in decision 14/23, a team of three experts has been contracted by the Secretariat through a competitive process conducted according to United Nations rules, taking into account also the criteria requested in that decision. Brief biographies of the members of the expert team are provided in annex to this notification. The assessment of GEF-8 funding needs will be supported by the generous financial contributions of the Government of Sweden and the European Union. In accordance with the terms of reference for the assessment, a questionnaire has been designed by the expert team and is made available on the Convention website at the following link: https://www.cbd.int/financial/gef8needs.shtml, together with guidance on completing it. Parties eligible to receive GEF support are invited to use the questionnaire to submit information on projects that may be envisaged for funding during GEF-8 to the Secretariat at secretariat@cbd.int as soon as possible but no later than 22 March 2020. The Secretariat will facilitate briefings by the expert team to Parties and other stakeholders, including the regional groups, from 23 to 29 February 2020 in Rome, Italy, at the margins of the second meeting of the Open-ended Working Group on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, including at an information session that will be held on Wednesday 26 February 2020. The team will also conduct interviews with Party representatives at the margins of this meeting and by virtual means. Please accept, Madam/Sir, the assurances of my highest consideration. Annex Team of experts for preparing a report on the full assessment of funding necessary and available for the implementation of the Convention for the period July 2022 to June 2026 Ravi Sharma, a national of India and former Director of Implementation and Technical Support at the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity for 10 years, has over 30 years of success in strategizing, implementing, and championing global environmental and innovative programs for the United Nations Environment Programme, Global Environment Facility (GEF), and policy think tanks in India and Kenya. In this period he designed and executed 100+ global, regional and national projects on climate change and biodiversity, and orchestrated more than 50 international policy negotiations and technical workshops. At CBD he had the oversight of its relations with the GEF and issues related to resource mobilization and facilitated the first and second reports of the High-level Panel on the Global Assessment of Resources for Implementing the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020. He is currently advising conservation groups on the post-2020 global biodiversity framework, providing technical support to review projects under a global climate change initiative, assisting a program to transfer risk through micro-crop insurance at farm level and provide farmers with compensation resulting from climate shocks etc. He has a master’s degree in economics and a certificate in environmental management. Stephanie Mansourian, a dual Swiss/Egyptian national, has been an environmental consultant for the last 15 years and is also a research associate with Geneva University. Her work in the last 25 years has spanned several environmental topics, including restoration, air pollution, environmental governance, protected areas, and sustainability partnerships among others. She was at the forefront of the development of forest landscape restoration (FLR) at the time when she was managing WWF’s related programme. Since then, and based on her observations of FLR programmes and projects, she carried out her PhD specifically on governance challenges related to FLR. In her work, she takes an integrated approach and seeks to span disciplines wherever possible. As a consultant, her clients include NGOs, conventions, UN agencies and foundations. Her voluntary commitments include serving as a board member of the Audemars Watkins Foundation, a member of the Society for Ecological Restoration and as deputy coordinator of the IUFRO Task Force on “Transforming forest landscapes for future climates and human well-being”. She has published three books and authored several articles in peer reviewed journals. Yasha Feferholtz, a Chilean national, is a fellow at EcoHealth Alliance. In this position, Yasha has been working and advising on USAID and DTRA funded projects for sustainable development and health economics in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, South Africa, Bangladesh, and Liberia. He regularly conducts economic analyses to promote policies on sustainable development and conservation for global projects. Yasha has led studies on the economic impact of emerging infectious diseases, allocation of global resources for the Global Virome Project (GVP), economic valuation of ecosystem services from forest and health, cost benefit analyses for Rabies virus in Asia and Rift Valley Fever virus in Africa, economic impacts of global wildlife trade, and integrated assessment modelling to understand the environmental impact of natural resource degradation. Most of his work is applied to public policy and he has co-authored several peer reviewed papers and reports on sustainable economic development, conservation, and health. After obtaining a degree in finance, Yasha earned his PhD in economics from the University of Wyoming, specializing in environmental economics and behavioural experimental economics under a Fulbright scholarship.

Acting Executive Secretary

To: CBD National Focal Points, ABS Focal Points, Cartagena Protocol Focal Points