Programme Cooperation Agreement 2014: Final Report for the Period 01 January 2014 to 01 March 2015

5. Scope and context

During 2014, GRID-Arendal followed its strategy developed in 2013 by continuing to:

Increasingly, GRID-Arendal’s work relates to environmental conventions and thereby contributes to international co- operation.Goodexamples are the support provided toTehran Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea and the Abidjan Convention, UNEP’s Regional Seas agreement of West-African states. GRID-Arendal continues to support projects related to ‘green economy’, one of the key agendas of UNEP, and uses its communication and facilitation competences in related fields such as ‘The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity’ (TEEB). The box on page 38 outlines some of GRID-Arendal’s new green economy directions in more detail. While the Final Report focuses on the work programme specified under theMFAPCA, the overviewof programme delivery also summarizes the work undertaken by GRID- Arendal beyond the Agreement (such as Polar-related activities). This is done to show the close integration within and across the programme areas and the co- benefits that derive from sharing knowledge, skills and partners between projects.

• Build a portfolio of larger, long-term projects; • Strengthen its support to environmental conventions and cross-border cooperation; • Support the world’s transition to a ‘green economy’; and • Increase cooperation with other UN organizations in fulfilling the goals of the Rio+20 process. In order to remain focused on larger, long-term projects, GRID-Arendal went through a process with UNEP to get involved in some larger projects financed significantly through the Global Environment Facility (GEF). This entails both the opportunity to use the funds under the agreement with MFA as ‘seed’ funds for the delivery of a larger programme, and also to retain some vital contingency funding to meet unexpected changes in project plans (see also Chapter 11 on lessons learned).

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