The Thirty-fourth Meeting of the Executive Committee decided:
(a) to consider the proposal for a technical workshop on concessional lending at its 35th Meeting;
(b) to request the Secretariat, as preparation for that meeting:
(i) to recirculate its document UNEP/OzL.Pro/ExCom/29/59, as well as the note produced by the representative of Canada, reporting on the informal meeting convened on 23 November 1999 during the 29th Meeting of the Executive Committee at Beijing;
(ii) to prepare a report containing a compilation of the experience of the World Bank, which had applied innovative funding modalities to projects financed by the Multilateral Fund in Mexico, Thailand and Turkey, as well as other relevant information that could facilitate the understanding of the process of concessional lending;
(c) to take the proposal made by the Government of Japan as a basis of further discussion at its 35th Meeting, the text of which is reproduced as follows:
“The Executive Committee, having discussed the document submitted by the Government of Japan (UNEP/Ozl.Pro/ExCom/34/CRP. 1 of 22 June 2001):
“(a) decides to approve the convening of a technical workshop, in a project to be implemented by the Government of Japan with the assistance of the Implementing Agencies, to:
“(i) promote exchange of views on the objectives and modalities of concessional lending including pros and cons to Article 5 countries among the Member Governments of the Executive Committee;
“(ii) deepen the understanding of operations of any practical and workable concessional lending schemes available within the United Nations system;
“(iii) review relevant experience of the Fund and the Implementing Agencies as well as Article 5 countries in innovative financing in this field;
“(b) requests the Government of Japan in co-operation with the Secretariat and interested Implementing Agencies to make substantive and the relevant logistical arrangements for the convening of the workshop in a most cost-effective manner, at a time in which the Japanese Government deems appropriate by the end of June 2002, on the understanding that the agencies should make substantive contributions based on their experience in this area; and
“(c) requests the Secretariat and, as appropriate, the agencies to report on the findings of the workshop to the 37th Meeting of the Executive Committee.
“(d) requests the Executive Committee at its 34th Meeting to approve US $[75,000] to support the participation of the relevant experts and resource persons from Article 5 countries. This amount should be offset against Government of Japan’s 2001 contribution to the Multilateral Fund.”
(UNEP/OzL.Pro/ExCom/34/58, Decision 34/69, para. 118).
(Supporting document: UNEP/OzL.Pro/ExCom/34/CRP.1).
The Thirty-fifth Meeting of the Executive Committee decided:
(a) to take note with appreciation of the information paper provided by the World Bank on innovative financing for effective ODS phase-out;
(b) to approve the convening of a technical workshop, in the context of a project to be implemented by the Government of Japan with the assistance of the Implementing Agencies, to:
(i) promote exchange of views on the objectives and modalities of concessional lending including pros and cons, among Article 5 countries members of the Executive Committee;
(ii) deepen the understanding of operations of any practical and workable concessional lending schemes available within the United Nations system;
(iii) review relevant experience of the Fund and the Implementing Agencies, as well as Article 5 countries, in innovative financing in this field;
(c) to request the Government of Japan, in co-operation with the Secretariat and interested Implementing Agencies, to make the substantive and relevant logistical arrangements for the convening of the workshop in the most cost-effective manner at a time deemed appropriate by the Japanese Government, preferably back-to-back with the meeting of the Open-Ended Working Group of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol, to be held at the end of December 2002, on the understanding that the agencies would make substantive contributions based on their experience in this area;
(d) also to request the Secretariat and, as appropriate, the agencies to report on the findings of the workshop to the next appropriate Meeting of the Executive Committee;
(e) to approve US $75,000, on an exceptional basis, to support the substantive and relevant logistical arrangements, including the participation of Executive Committee members from Article 5 countries and the relevant experts and resource persons from Article 5 countries. This amount should be offset against the Government of Japan’s 2001 contribution to the Multilateral Fund.
(UNEP/OzL.Pro/ExCom/35/67, Decision 35/61, para. 134).