“Our strategy is already bearing fruit, and testifies to our role as precursors”: interview with Stéphanie Bouziges-Eschmann

  Stéphanie Bouziges-Eschmann, FFEM Secretary-General

*This article was published as the editorial in the FFEM Annual Report 2020 - 2021

For as long as the FFEM has been in existence, the fundamentals of the environmental crisis have remained unchanged. But they have been exacerbated and the context in which we operate has evolved. The reports from the IPBES and the GIEC clearly demonstrate the urgency. There's no denying their scientific observations: we’re reaching a point of no return.  Awareness is growing among our societies, but also among those who finance and play an active role in development. This has been further reinforced by the Covid-19 pandemic. We must build upon this awareness to accelerate our activity and consolidate our strategy.

25 years ago when the FFEM was established, development aid was focused on socio-economic aspects. The FFEM’s innovative approach is to cross development objectives with environmental protection concerns. The projects we support are those responding simultaneously to several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), while building on a strong partnership dynamic. Today, the health crisis, which continues to weaken certain regions and certain communities, means that we must weave resilience into our project outcomes by ensuring that they each impact several SDGs.

At the mid-point of our 2019-2022 strategic cycle, which has seen 30% growth in our means despite the pandemic, a third of the financing for strategy cycle projects is committed while a further third is being allocated. In a context where beneficiary mobilisation is ever-increasing, we will have no difficulty committing the remaining third by 2022. This has been made possible through tremendous efforts to adapt by our partners and beneficiaries on the ground, and by working to avoid delays in funding allocation.

Our 2019-2022 strategy is already bearing fruit and testifies to our role as precursors. The relevance of the “One Health” approach, supported by the FFEM for several years now (see p. 28), has been clearly demonstrated by the health crisis. We’ve also been able to anticipate the search for solutions to major environmental problems through nature-based solutions in coastal area projects, projects to combat imported deforestation, high seas projects, and a call for projects to tackle chemical pollutants and dangerous waste.

If the FFEM has distinguished itself through pilot projects and exploring solutions, it's through the upscaling of successful innovations that we accelerate our activities.

t’s absolutely essential this point be kept at the forefront in the next two years, and FFEM equips itself with the necessary means through stronger capitalisation. To achieve this we will be able to build on international momentum, with the IUCN World Conservation Congress, COP15 on biodiversity, and COP26 on climate.  These events will provide opportunities to review the consolidated lessons from FFEM-funded projects and to hear from our beneficiaries and partners, from those working on the ground. Because they’re the ones to provide the solutions we need to respond to the environmental, social and economic challenges in each region. And they are the best placed to convince their counterparts to emulate their success.

Finally, in the same spirit of anticipation, we can forward to the next four-year period, 2023-2026. Our goal is to pursue FFEM’s strategy of commitment to innovation for environmental protection and sustainable development, while capitalising on the lessons from previous projects.