On 30 May, the Independent Integrity Unit (IIU) and Transparency International (TI) announced the launch of a new working group focused on integrity in climate action during the Countering Environmental Corruption Practitioners Forum. 

This Forum, launched by the Basel Institute on Governance, TRAFFIC, TI, and the World Wildlife Fund last year, is designed to bring together practitioners in environmental conservation and anti-corruption to jointly address the scourge of corruption in the climate and environment space. The goal of the Forum is to break down siloes and find new ways to address corruption through collective action, which is a key driver of environmental degradation, biodiversity loss and climate change.

There are different Working Groups that have been set up within this Forum, including one on Land Corruption and another on Financial Investigations. These Working Groups meet virtually monthly or bi-monthly to discuss challenges, share lessons learned, and to develop anti-corruption initiatives.  

The objective of the Working Group on Integrity in Climate Action is to bring all interested parties together to share their perspectives and how to jointly advocate for integrity in climate finance projects. Co-leading this new working group on integrity in climate action will provide the opportunity for IIU to engage with other organizations in the climate space that are seeking to put more of a focus on integrity and preventing corruption.

In his introductory speech, Albert Lihalakha, Head of IIU, a.i, highlighted the importance for all stakeholders to join forces in the fight against corruption. He stressed that as the largest climate fund, GCF has a fiduciary responsibility to ensure that the money allocated for climate projects is used for its designated purpose.

Dr. Sanjeev Narrainen, Integrity and Compliance Manager for the IIU, presented the integrity framework at GCF and the different anti-corruption initiatives that the IIU is working on. The event included an insightful discussion and a lively Q&A. 

Learn more about the Forum and the Working Groups at the link: https://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/tnrc-about-the-countering-environmen...