What tools can we design to address and manage global environmental issues? How effective are the ones that exist today? The third issue of the Health & Environment Reports will take up such questions through the study of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), and the trust fund structure.

This discussion seminar will provide an opportunity to discuss the results and recommendations of the third study of Ifri's Health & Environment programme. The Global Environment Facility, or GEF, was created in 1991 as an innovative mechanism to finance projects addressing global environmental issues in developing countries. Structured as a global trust fund, it brings together a wide range of actors through an original and integrative governance model. As the GEF embarks upon a transitional period of its existence, this study will assess the role of the GEF, its strength and weaknesses, and the use of the trust fund tool to address global environmental issues. As is usual with the Health & Environment Reports, the study will provide a prospective analysis of future developments, as well as policy-oriented recommendations. The seminar will be chaired by Mrs. Laurence Boisson de Chazournes, Professor of international law and Director of the Department of Public International Law and International Organization at the Faculty of Law of the University of Geneva.

Emma Broughton is Junior Research Fellow for Ifri's Health & Environment programme.