Effective enforcement is impossible without adequate funding. Some MEAs place emphasis in their terms on adequate available funding (such as the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Montreal Protocol) to ensure that the objectives of the MEAs are realized. This emphasis is equally applicable in the context of effective enforcement of national laws, and effective implementation policies.
Appreciating the importance of funding at the outset can greatly improve an agreement’s chances for success. For example, Article 8 of the Lusaka Agreement formally established a budget for the Agreement’s Task Force in order to be operational and effectively fulfil its mandate. Member Parties are the contributors to the budget. In addition, the Task Force also gets extra-budgetary resources, such as grants, donations, technical assistance and funds for projects from supportive donor countries including the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Norway, and Denmark.
The Global Environment Facility (GEF) is a major source of assistance to many countries in implementing the terms of specific MEAs. GEF was created to provide funding, including grants and concessionary loans, to developing countries and countries with economies in transition for projects and activities targeting global benefits in one or more of six focal areas: biological diversity, climate change, international waters, ozone layer, desertification, and persistent organic pollutants.
In some countries, Environmental Funds (see discussion following Guideline 41(g)
) are used to help retain and manage funds. In many developing countries, the government salary of environmental staff is modest, particularly in comparison to what they could earn in the private sector or at NGOs. This often leads to rapid attrition in governmental capacity. To help retain staff, agencies sometimes supplement salaries with payments from an Environmental Fund. This can be done either on a temporary and ad hoc basis or on a more permanent, institutionalized basis. The feasibility of such an approach depends in large part on the terms of the Environmental Fund, as well as governmental policies regarding salaries.