International Environment: U.S. Funding of Environmental Programs and
Activities (Letter Report, 09/30/96, GAO/RCED-96-234).

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed federal funding for
international environmental activities, focusing on: (1) the level of
funding related to 12 prominent international environmental agreements
for fiscal years (FY) 1993 through 1995; (2) funding provided by the
Departments of State and Commerce, the Department of Energy (DOE), the
Agency for International Development (AID), and the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA); and (3) federal financial support for the
environmental programs and activities of the United Nations (UN), the
World Bank, and other multilateral financial institutions.

GAO found that: (1) in FY 1993 through 1995, State, Commerce, DOE, AID,
and EPA spent, exclusive of salaries and overhead, a total of $975.2
million to support programs and activities directly or indirectly
related to the concerns and objectives of the 12 international
environmental agreements reviewed; (2) 71 percent, 20 percent, and 5
percent of this total supported the UN Framework Convention on Climate
Change, the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the International
Tropical Timber Agreement, respectively; (3) the amounts spent and the
purposes for which the funds were spent varied among the agencies; (4)
AID spent about 61 percent and DOE spent nearly 31 percent of total
funding mainly on specific projects and programs related to their
individual missions; (5) these projects and programs related most
closely to the Framework Convention's objectives; (6) State, EPA, and
Commerce reported spending $886,024, $77.7 million, and $3.03 million,
respectively, during FY 1993 through 1995; (7) from 1992 through 1995,
U.S. contributions to the UN Environmental Program's Environment Fund
and special purpose trust funds totalled $74.612 million and $7.09
million, respectively; (8) in FY 1993 through 1995, the United States
provided $4.73 billion to support the activities of multilateral
development banks and other international financial institutions; (9)
the World Bank received 70 percent of these funds and reported that
almost 10 percent of its investment portfolio consisted of projects with
primarily environmental objectives; and (10) during the same period, the
Global Environment Facility received $120 million for loans and grants
to developing countries for projects to protect the global environment.

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  RCED-96-234
     TITLE:  International Environment: U.S. Funding of Environmental 
             Programs and Activities
      DATE:  09/30/96
   SUBJECT:  Environmental monitoring
             International agreements
             International organizations
             Federal aid to foreign countries
             Developing countries
             Pollution control
             Financial institutions
             Agency missions
             Environmental research
IDENTIFIER:  UN Conference on Environment and Development
             U.S. Global Change Research Program
             UN Environment Programme