Le Fonds Français pour l'Environnement Mondial

Climate Objective
Adaptation
Mitigation
Cross-cutting
Sectors and Themes
Agriculture
Cities
Energy
Forestry and Land Use
Oceans and Coasts
Waste Management
Type of Support Provider
Bilateral
Type of Recipient
Public entity at the national level
Public entity at the sub-national level
Public entity at the regional level
International organization
Non-profit or civil society organization
Private sector
Community-level organization
Fund Size

€132m for the period 2023-2026

Co-financing
Yes
Trustee or Administrator
Agence Française de Développement - French Development Bank (AFD)
Contact Information
Countries
Afghanistan
Albania
Algeria
Angola
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Bangladesh
Belarus
Belize
Benin
Bhutan
Bolivia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cabo Verde
Cambodia
Cameroon
Central African Republic
Chad
Chile
China
Colombia
Comoros
Cook Islands
Costa Rica
Côte d'Ivoire
Cuba
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Eswatini
Ethiopia
Fiji
Gabon
Gambia
Georgia
Ghana
Grenada
Guatemala
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Guyana
Haiti
Honduras
India
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Jamaica
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kiribati
Kyrgyz Republic
Laos
Lebanon
Lesotho
Liberia
Libya
Macedonia
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives
Mali
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mexico
Micronesia
Moldova
Mongolia
Montenegro
Morocco
Mozambique
Myanmar
Namibia
Nauru
Nepal
Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria
Niue
North Korea
Pakistan
Palau
Palestine
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Rwanda
Saint Lucia
Samoa
Sao Tome and Principe
Senegal
Serbia
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Solomon Islands
Somalia
South Africa
South Sudan
Sri Lanka
Sudan
Suriname
Syria
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Thailand
Timor-Leste
Togo
Tonga
Tunisia
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Tuvalu
Uganda
Ukraine
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
Venezuela
Yemen
Zambia
Zimbabwe
Region
East Asia and Pacific
Europe and Central Asia
Middle East and North Africa
South Asia
Sub-Saharan Africa

The French Facility for Global Environment (FFEM) was created by the French Government in 1994 following the first Earth Summit, to implement sustainable development projects that integrate the preservation of global public goods, international solidarity and innovation in developing and emerging countries.

FFEM promotes innovative solutions in the fields of biodiversity, climate, international waters, land degradation, including deforestation, chemical pollutants and the stratospheric ozone layer.

All FFEM-funded projects are reported as Official Development Assistance. For over 25 years, more than 350 projects have already been financed, in over 120 countries, including 69% located in Africa and the Mediterranean.

Support Provider

France

Purpose of Support
Project and program implementation
Co-Financing Requirements

The FFEM’s contributions range from €500,000 to €3,000,000 per project. The number of projects for which the FFEM’s contribution exceeds €2,000,000 can be decided only by the Steering Committee.

FFEM funding is provided only within the scope of cofinancing. Cofinancing is funding that contributes directly to the specific objectives of the project and that is necessary for its achievement. The cofinancing bodies, including the FFEM, work in close synergy in the steering and/or management of the project, which is handled by one of the cofinancing bodies on behalf of the others.

FFEM funding comes in addition to the cofinancing provided by the project initiators, the direct beneficiaries, or any other financial partner. Operational costs are shared, and local or other financial resources are mobilized. This both promotes and demonstrates ownership of the project by its initiators and the local beneficiaries, in turn helping to ensure the sustainability of the activities once FFEM support has ended. The FFEM’s co-financing rate is:

70% of the overall budget in standard cases;
50% of the overall budget for a project that has a remarkably innovative feature or for the case of projects initiated by Southern stakeholders whose cofinancing comes from the South.
At each stage of the examination process, the status of the cofinancing (requested, to be requested, or received) must be indicated. Project evaluation will include an analysis of the effective mobilization of the cofinancing that had been expected.

The duration of the activities cofinanced by the FFEM may not exceed five years, except in cases for which justification is formally provided. It is not the FFEM’s duty to ensure the sustainability of a project beyond the period initially provided for. It is up to the project initiator to identify, during the project implementation, the financial resources that will ensure the continuity of the project beyond five years.

Financial Instruments Offered
Grants
Monitoring and Reporting Procedures

These are numerous and vary depending on the objectives: evaluation at project mid-point and after completion, capitalising experiences within the project, or themed evaluation and capitalisation spanning several projects, which may be strategic or country-/region-specific etc.
The evaluation is intended to present the specific aspects of each project: the roles of those involved, the status of practices, benefits of the support provided, reasons for any failures etc. These analyses enrich the FFEM’s intervention strategies and evaluation methods, and feed in to dissemination of experiences and promoting of expertise.
The FFEM makes available all useful information relating to projects it supports to the capitalisations and evaluations coordinated by the Evaluation Office at the French Development Agency.

Organizational and Decision Making Structure

The Steering Committee: Comprises the FFEM’S six member institutions. Develops the FFEM’sgeneral policy and determines project funding after consulting with the Scientific and Technical Committee and Secretariat.

Project examination involves the Secretariat and the Scientific and Technical Committee, which both give their opinion on the project, and the Steering Committee, which approves project identification and decides in the end on FFEM funding.

Eligibility Criteria

To receive FFEM funding, a project must meet nine eligibility criteria:

  • contributes to global environmental protection;
  • contributes to local sustainable development in one or more developing countries;
  • is innovative;
  • has demonstrative value and replicability;
  • is economically and financially sustainable once funding ends;
  • is ecologically and environmentally viable;
  • is socially and culturally acceptable, with local ownership;
  • has an appropriate institutional framework;
  • has a monitoring and evaluation mechanism.

It is also interested in seeing whether a project addresses any of the following points:

  • uses the Theory of Change;
  • includes partnerships;
  • considers inequalities, women, youth, and vulnerable populations;
  • will share knowledge gained by the project;
  • has sustainable funding and co-financing.
  • Applied research activities that give rise to or that are in relation with development activities can be funded by the FFEM. Basic research activities are, however, not eligible to receive its financial support.

The FFEM cofinances in any developing country eligible for official development assistance. Priority is given to Africa: the FFEM’s objective is to commit approximately two-thirds of its resources there.

Eligible countries

ODA-Eligible Countries

Eligible Countries and Geographic Regions
East Asia and Pacific
Cook Islands
Niue
Cambodia
China
Fiji
Indonesia
Kiribati
North Korea
Laos
Malaysia
Marshall Islands
Micronesia
Mongolia
Myanmar
Nauru
Palau
Papua New Guinea
Philippines
Samoa
Thailand
Timor-Leste
Tonga
Tuvalu
Vanuatu
Vietnam
Europe and Central Asia
Albania
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Georgia
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyz Republic
Macedonia
Moldova
Montenegro
Serbia
Tajikistan
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Ukraine
Uzbekistan
Latin America and Caribbean
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Belize
Bolivia
Brazil
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Cuba
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
El Salvador
Grenada
Guatemala
Guyana
Haiti
Honduras
Jamaica
Mexico
Nicaragua
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Suriname
Uruguay
Venezuela
Middle East and North Africa
Iran
Algeria
Djibouti
Egypt
Iraq
Jordan
Lebanon
Libya
Morocco
Syria
Tunisia
Yemen
South Asia
Palestine
Afghanistan
Bangladesh
Bhutan
India
Maldives
Nepal
Pakistan
Sri Lanka
Sub-Saharan Africa
Uganda
Angola
Benin
Botswana
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cameroon
Cabo Verde
Central African Republic
Chad
Comoros
Republic of Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Côte d'Ivoire
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Ethiopia
Gabon
Gambia
Ghana
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Kenya
Lesotho
Liberia
Madagascar
Malawi
Mali
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mozambique
Namibia
Niger
Nigeria
Rwanda
Sao Tome and Principe
Senegal
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Somalia
South Africa
South Sudan
Sudan
Eswatini
Tanzania
Togo
Solomon Islands
Zambia
Zimbabwe
Information on how to

To submit a project opportunity note, you must contact one of the six FFEM members institutions (Ministry of Finance, Foreign Affairs, Sustainable Development, Research, Agriculture and the Agence Française de Developpement). If one of those institutions validates it, your Note will be submitted at first to the FFEM selection committee and then to the steering committee.

See more information here.