30 years of the FFEM: throwback on a collective adventure looking towards tomorrow

Event

Published on April 25 2025

On 10th April, the French Fund for the Global Environment (FFEM) celebrated three decades of pioneering initiatives in the service of life in Paris at the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
Surrounded by its institutional guardians, its historical partners and many project holders, the FFEM wanted to make this anniversary much more than a simple commemorative moment. It was an opportunity for introspection, transmission and co-construction with all the forces that have built and continue this “so special financial institution”, as highlighted by Barbara Pompili, new Ambassador for the Environment.

The strength of the partnerships, the conviction to be united around the same vocation and commitment, were palpable from the first minutes of the evening. A warm and friendly atmosphere immediately enveloped the room, illustrating the unity and kindness that marked the entire evening.

Quickly, the feeling of being turned in a similar direction was highlighted when reading Carl Sagan’s poem "Pale Blue Dot":

Our planet is an isolated dust, wrapped in the great cosmic night. In our darkness, in all this immensity, nothing suggests that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.

Because it was, upstream, to recall what united the participants: the will to fight against climate change, the destruction of biodiversity and to find solutions together to preserve the living. And it only took a few minutes of the microphone circulating in the room, during which each guest was able to sketch in one sentence his perception of the FFEM in 10 years, to realize that all eyes were turned in the same direction: a FFEM that maintains its principles of action, shows more audacity and has more means to succeed in bringing even more environmental and social innovations.

30 ans du FFEM - BOUZIGES-ESCHMANN Stéphanie — FFEM

Après l’ouverture prononcée par Stéphanie Bouziges-Eschmann, Secrétaire générale du FFEM, Claire Cheremetinski, Directrice générale adjointe à la Direction générale du Trésor, a introduit la cérémonie en soulignant la contribution du FFEM à l’expertise et à la diplomatie environnementale françaises :

The concrete achievements of the FFEM are remarkable, and contribute to disseminate the best solutions: this Fund contributes actively to major international environmental events, where the FFEM will highlight exemplary projects. The FFEM, which has contributed 500 million euros since 1994, has helped finance projects with a total budget of almost 5 billion euros, demonstrating the leverage effect of this fund. The FFEM is an innovation culture and evaluation culture. The projects carried out between 2023 and 2024, for example, were considered to be 95% innovative through ex-post evaluations.

30 ans du FFEM - Claire Cheremetinski — Claire Cheremetinski - FFEM

Monique Barbut, the FFEM’s first Secretary-General, spoke about the context of its creation and the singularity of its approach from the outset:

In 1994, I quickly realized that (...) the way of thinking in this fund is very different from the way of thinking in the official development assistance system that prevailed at the time. I found none of the functions that were ours. We wanted to show that you can do very innovative things with shared cost sharing. financing: hence the shared governance of the FFEM. This shared governance is unique in France, even today (...), it includes all the actors of official development assistance, all the ministries, a scientific council, consultation with NGOs, a steering committee that is different from traditional boards.... It is part of the landscape of French DP Development Aid, for a number of innovative projects made in the past, and it is absolutely necessary to preserve this jewel.

The originality of the FFEM and its collaborative approach to its partners were also highlighted by Elisabeth Claverie de Saint-Martin, Director General of CIRAD :

The FFEM is a trusted actor. For biscornus projects, he gives his confidence to test things (...), which then become development projects. Also, it acts by letting scientists be scientists, giving time to projects that need to be robust, while highlighting certain values, especially to preserve local communities, Supporting the most vulnerable and dependent on biodiversity... These are things that [CIRAD] has found in you.

30 ans du FFEM - Claverie de Saint Martin — Elisabeth Claverie de Saint-Martin - FFEM

Throughout the evening, long-standing partners illustrated with their testimonies the values embodied by the FFEM and its added value among donors.

Zouhair Amhaouch, Head of the Department of National Parks and Protected Areas within the National Water and Forestry Agency of Morocco, spoke about the FFEM’s intervention 25 years ago in support of the creation of the Ifrane National Park, highlighting the contribution of French expertise, and how this pilot project laid the foundations for a large-scale programme that is now being implemented in partnership with Groupe AFD and Expertise France throughout Morocco.

Marco Cerezo, Managing Director of FundaEco, a Guatemalan environmental conservation NGO, welcomed the FFEM’s attention to inclusion of local communities and integration of socio-economic development dimensions in biodiversity conservation projects, while enhancing the trust and flexibility of the field actors. Emilie Fairet, Director France of the Wildlife Conservation Society, recalled the pioneering role of the FFEM on high seas issues, and its ability to explore emerging themes, As shown by the current support for a project on marine noise pollution in the Indian Ocean.

30 ans du FFEM - Emilie Fairet — Emilie Fairet - FFEM

Moreover, the speeches went beyond simple testimony: they outlined visions for the future of the FFEM, highlighting its potential to continue innovating for the environment and development. Carlos Manuel Rodriguez, CEO of the Global Environment Facility, has repositioned the FFEM in a changing world where security and environment are becoming increasingly interdependent:

En 2035, face aux divers chocs exogènes, promouvoir la robustesse et la régénération non seulement des systèmes naturels, mais aussi des arrangements institutionnels et des structures sociales, qui gèrent et dépendent d’un environnement sain, doivent devenir centraux dans l’approche du FFEM. 

In this same perspective, Sébastien Treyer, Chairman of the FFEM’s Scientific and Technical Committee for more than ten years, projects the FFEM as a driving force to rethink multilateral relations in a world plagued by environmental and geopolitical imbalances:

The FFEM has this central idea, which is to be a pilot fish listening to civil society actors, associations, governments, local communities... However, we need to forge new alliances at a time when geopolitics is going to impose itself in a very strong way. The FFEM can find ways, because it has qualities that would allow to create multilateral relations with the countries of the South, and not at their expense.

30 ans du FFEM - Sébastien Treyer — Sébastien Treyer - FFEM

Rémy Rioux, Director General of the French Development Agency, also highlighted the audacity of the FFEM and its ability to open new avenues for AFD and other international donors:

Depuis 30 ans, le FFEM a su détecter des sujets frontières, stratégiques, et s’engager là où peu d’acteurs étaient présents. Il a ainsi été l’un des premiers à s’investir sur la Haute Mer, il y intervient depuis plus de 10 ans, ouvrant la voie à d’autres acteurs du financement durable, dont l’AFD, qui s’apprête à financer un pilote d’aires marines protégées en haute mer.

Barbara Pompili, Deputy Ambassador for the Environment, concluded the evening with strong wishes for the future of the Fund:

For the next 10 years, I wish you to get out of the project-based approach, to find these new paths in the new multilateralism. But in your very essence you have succeeded in recreating the link between environment and human beings, between development and environment. 

30 ans du FFEM - Barbara Pompili — Barbara Pompili - FFEM

These moments of exchange, which were an opportunity for the guests to share their impressions and ideas about the future of the FFEM, allowed us to chart together perspectives for the coming decade. The investment of our partners from all horizons, in these moments of reflection, and their willingness to think with and for the FFEM, have reminded that one of the great strengths of the FFEM, it is its ability to listen attentively to local realities and to bring together local actors around the major international issues.

Conceived as a moment of collective projection, this anniversary marks a new stage for the FFEM. With the energy of its partners and the wealth of its 30 years of experience, the Fund is more than ever ready to meet the environmental challenges of tomorrow.

Claire Cheremetinski, Deputy Director-General at the Treasury Branch
Monique Barbut, First Secretary General of the FFEM
Elisabeth Claverie de Saint-Martin, CEO of CIRAD
Emilie Fairet, WCS France Director
Zouhair Amhaouch, Head of the Department of National Parks and Protected Areas at ANF Morocco
Marco Cerezo, CEO of FundaEco
Manuel Rodriguez, CEO of the GEF
Rémy Rioux, CEO of the AFD
Sébastien Treyer, IDDRI Director General and Chairman of the Scientific and Technical Committee of the FFEM
Barbara Pompili, Ambassador for the Environment