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UNEP's funding is improving. The number of donor countries
and the amount of their contribution are increasing and the
funding has become more stable and predictable than it was
in the 1990s.
Funding sources
Apart from a contribution
from the United Nations Regular Budget, UNEP depends entirely on voluntary support.
The Environment Fund is the main source of funding for UNEP's activities. However,
contributions to the Environment
Fund continue to fall short of the budget approved by
UNEP's Governing Council, forcing UNEP to scale down its work
programme. In addition to the Environment
Fund, earmarked funding for specific UNEP activities is
provided through Trust Funds and Earmarked contributions.
The programme of work of UNEP is also supported through some fundings from
UN
foundation. The Foundation aims to address environmental
concerns in the areas of biodiversity
and climate change.
A recent development is the conclusion of Partnership
Agreements between UNEP and major donor countries, which
aim at making additional support more strategic and pedictable.
The
latest initiative was the extension of a pilot phase of the Voluntary
Indicative Scale of Contributions for 2008 and 2009.
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"The
most impressive result of the Voluntary Indicative Scale of
Contributions(VISC) is a significant widening of the base for
voluntary contributions. A total of 128 countries had pledged
or contributed to the Environment Fund in 2003 when VISC was
introduced. This was 72% above the average number of 74 countries
paying annually to the Environment Fund in the previous 30 years."