While GEF projects continue to expand in scale and scope, questions remain about how well they anticipate risks, sustain outcomes, and engage stakeholders.

The 2002 Project Performance Report (PPR) reviews the performance of 272 ongoing projects, drawing on the Project Implementation Review, Secretariat Managed Project Reviews, and Terminal Evaluation Reviews.

The review finds that projects generally manage partnerships well, but many teams fail to fully assess institutional capacity, do not consistently act on important design comments from the Secretariat, Council, and STAP, and apply risk identification and mitigation in uneven ways.

While some projects demonstrate strong approaches to sustainability—such as user fees, trust funds, or integration into national institutions—others lack early planning for long-term financial, institutional, or socioeconomic sustainability. Stakeholder participation varies across focal areas, with biodiversity and international waters projects more consistently engaging local actors, while climate change projects show greater private sector involvement but less local participation. Cofinancing performance is uneven, hindered by weak reporting standards, and cost-effectiveness assessments remain difficult without clearer guidance. Across the portfolio, monitoring and evaluation systems are often limited, focusing on outputs rather than outcomes.

The report recommends strengthening sustainability planning, improving stakeholder engagement, clarifying cofinancing and cost-effectiveness reporting, and reinforcing monitoring and evaluation systems.