At its first session, the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade requested that the Secretariat prepare a study “into the possible options for lasting and sustainable financial mechanisms which will enable developing countries to implement adequately the provisions of the Convention.” This study responds to that request. The study reviews and compares financial mechanisms that have been established by the parties of multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) to facilitate and enable developing countries in their implementation of the agreements. Additionally, the study examines the Global Environment Facility (GEF), which serves as the interim operational entity for several of the MEA financial mechanisms.
The study explains that, for purposes of comparison, financial mechanisms under multilateral environmental agreements may be defined by their function and how they are administered. Regarding function, the mechanism may serve a funding or coordinating function. Funding mechanisms provide financial assistance to help address a country’s technical and capacity needs. In contrast, the primary purpose of coordinating mechanisms is not to provide funding; instead, they assist in “resource mobilization” by identifying outside sources of funding and assistance and helping countries apply for such funding and assistance.