Le Fonds Français pour l'Environnement Mondial

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.

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.

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.

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.

ODA-Eligible Countries