Assessment of Global Marine Biodiversity indicators for the Global Environment Facility Resource Allocation Framework(GEF RAF)

Abstract

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) is the single financial mechanism of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to fund global projects that serve the objectives of the CBD1. The GEF Secretariat has developed the Resource Allocation Framework (RAF) which is a nested set of formulas that determine the maximum potential allocation for each country to implement global biodiversity projects. One of the key pillars of the RAF is the GEF's Benefits Index for Biodiversity (GBIbio) which measures and ranks countries according to their amount of and threat to biodiversity. The GBIbio consists of two separated and differently weighted biodiversity sub-indices which, in turn, are comprised of indicators: The terrestrial sub-index contributes 4 indicators and 80 percent while the marine sub-index contributes 1 indicator and 20 percent to the calculation of the GBIbio. This is explained by a lack of adequate marine biodiversity indicators and underlying data. Nevertheless, this uneven weighting of the GBIbio is the central problem of this study since it discriminates marine biodiversity and disadvantages all RAF eligible countries with significant marine biodiversity.