Our missions

FFEM's mandate is to support innovation for the preservation of the global environment and local development in developing countries.

FFEM’s actions fall within the environment and development guidelines established by the French government and confirmed by the Interministerial Committee for International Cooperation (CICID). 

The projects supported by FFEM contribute simultaneously to the issues at stake in several major international environmental conventions and also participate in helping to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations in 2015. Thus, the FFEM's mandate covers :

• The fight against climate change and its harmful effects, with particular reference to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change;
• The preservation and sustainable management of biodiversity and natural resources, with particular reference to the Convention on Biological Diversity;
• The protection of international inland and marine waters, within the framework of multilateral conventions on international waters and transboundary basins;
• The fight against desertification and land degradation, including deforestation, in particular in the framework of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification;
• Waste management and the fight against chemical pollutants, notably in the framework of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants and the Minamata Convention on Mercury;
• The elimination of substances that deplete the stratospheric ozone layer, under the Montreal Protocol.

As such, in line with its multilateral counterpart, the Global Environment Facility (GEF), FFEM finances initiatives that help developing countries achieve the objectives of these conventions.

Working in partnership

Multi-players partnerships are fundamental to the FFEM’s identity and actions. They concern stakeholders in both the North and the South, not only the public sector, the private sector, and civil society but also local communities, the research world, and other donors. The FFEM’s internal sectoral strategies and projects will be built up in collaboration with stakeholders with an interest in the topic areas that it supports.

Thus, FFEM is working to consolidate its partnership approach by:

• Working with the private sector
• Supporting civil society initiatives
• Mobilizing local communities
• Developing links with research
• Strengthening partnerships with other donors

All the actions carried out by FFEM aim to :

• Support projects in the field
• Encourage innovative initiatives with environmental, social and economic co-benefits
• Promote action and experiences sharing
• Mobilize multi-stakeholder partnerships
• Facilitate consultation and shared governance

FFEM places innovation at the center of its action. The scientific community has demonstrated that the environmental crisis results from our lifestyles. In order to change this, however, we first must be able to offer alternatives. That is where the FFEM comes in, supporting innovative projects, testing sustainable solutions and opening the way to in-depth transformations.

Beyond seeking environmental impact, FFEM supported innovations also serve the socio-economic development and well-being of local populations. Offering convincing alternative solutions is the key to their durability, their potential scaling-up and, ultimately, their real environmental impact.

These innovations may be organisational, economic, methodological or technical. A single project may embody several solutions in order to better address the complex issues of their particular territories and societies.

For FFEM, the innovative nature of a project can be assessed only in the light of specific analysis of the project and/or of the territory, according to the given context in geographical, socio-economic, political, institutional, and ecological terms, and the innovative way in which the project intends to trigger the change to benefit the environment and sustainable development.