© GGGI. Citizens in Rwanda participating the E-waste Campaign to dispose old e-waste in Umuganda. Rwanda, 2023
CHAPTER 14
Lessons Learned & Looking Ahead
14.1 LESSONS LEARNED
© GGGI. An Internally Displaced Person (IDP) testing her solar cooking kit. Burkina Faso, 2024
Quality of delivery was the number one priority for GGGI’s Management in 2023. Over the past handful of years, a lot of effort has been focused on mobilizing resources. Now that resources are coming in, and the organization is growing rapidly, the primary focus of attention for almost all GGGI staff needed to shift towards ensuring the highest possible quality of delivery. Management has rolled out a comprehensive action plan early in 2023 to improve delivery and focus on impact in all parts of the project cycle. This ranges from improving some parts of our back-office tools, formal training and certification for project managers, sharper focus on projects that are at risk of underperformance and stepping up remedial action, and strengthening the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning functions in projects and programs, throughout the organization. A focus on Quality of Delivery does go hand in hand with solid attention of Management for staff well-being, avoiding stress and burn-out, and making sure staff believe their workload is reasonable.
In 2023, the world’s largest Debt –for –Nature Swap (DNS) was implemented by the government of Ecuador. This DNS was substantially prepared by GGGI through a seconded staff member to the Ecuador government for most of 2022 and financed through a grant from CAF. DNS transactions are innovative and complicated, but they may offer an excellent opportunity to provide funding to nature conservation or climate action for highly indebted developing countries that have few other options to attract new funding. GGGI aims to replicate the success in Ecuador in other countries and currently has five other such transactions in the pipeline.
14.2 LOOKING AHEAD
In 2024, GGGI remains dedicated to maintaining high standards in our delivery, now extending our focus to encompass both quality and quantity. Our commitment is evident in the multitude of grant agreements we’ve secured, reflecting an expanded portfolio. As a result, our projected 2024 budget is 30% higher than the actual expenditures of 2023.
The GGGI Assembly is gearing up for the appointment of a new Director-General in 2024. The Council has approved the successor selection process and formed a Selection Committee. Scheduled for January 2025, the transition ensures a seamless continuation of GGGI’s dynamic growth trajectory, crucial for expediting the global green transition imperative for our planet.
Following a survey among GGGI Members that have signed up to China’s BRI conducted in 2023, of the 24 countries participating in the survey, 18 had jointly received about USD 150 billion in Chinese BRI investments. Going forward, almost all countries in the survey expressed an interest to partner with China’s BRI to obtain access to China’s green technology and funding – particularly for electric cars and buses, solar energy, and energy storage. In 2024 GGGI will explore how it can support its Member States to prepare green investment projects that could receive support through BRI.
A Plastic Treaty to address plastic pollution is currently under negotiation, with the fifth and possibly final negotiating session scheduled to take place in late 2024, in Busan, Korea. In 2024, GGGI is undertaking some preparatory work to explore how it can best position itself to support GGGI Member States for the expected Plastic Treaty, and the expectations it will place on countries that ratify the treaty. While the treaty is not yet assured, the topic is important and may become a significant part of GGGI’s work – together with climate action and biodiversity protection, pollution is a critical aspect of the current sustainability crisis. Green growth strategies should ideally target climate action, biodiversity protection, pollution control and social inclusion in a balanced, holistic approach.
