Creation of a permanent information disclosure policy is not on the agenda for an upcoming meeting of the Global Climate Fund board.
“This was not surprising, giving the long list of issues already on their to-do list, but it is disappointing nevertheless,” said Liane Schalatek, who follows the Fund as Associate Director of the Heinrich Böll Foundation North America.
She noted that information disclosure is currently on the work plan for the June 2015 board meeting.
“Disappointing besides the question of disclosure and communication missing is also that there have been no opportunities during the past couple of meetings — nor will we have it in Barbados — to discuss observer participation and mechanisms for stakeholder involvement,” Schalatek said. “Some of the transparency issues we are worried about — like continued lack of live webcasting, availability of papers and input/commenting procedures have likewise taken a back-side for what `donors’ (contributing countries) considered essential requirements for resource mobilization.”
In May of 2014, the GCF board created a “Structure for the Fund and Secretariat.” It charged the Ethics and Audit Committee with “overseeing the development of a draft Board policy on transparency, ethics and conflict of interest.”
In the meantime, the Fund continues to operate under “Interim information Disclosure Practice,” adopted in October 2013, that have been sharply criticized as too restrictive by civil society organizations. (See previous FreedomInfo.org report.)
A transparency-related topic — multi-stakeholder involvement — is on the agenda as the ninth item, in relationship to member country activities. There is no explanatory background paper as there is for most other items. Here is the agenda item:
The Fund’s board will hold its eighth meeting on Oct. 14-17 in Barbados with a full provisional agenda. The GCF released advance documents for meeting.
The GCF is an international institution which uses lending to promote compliance with the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Filed under: IFTI Watch