Alongside its annual review of completed projects, the 2019 APR presents a special evaluation of the GEF’s $501 million sustainable transport portfolio.
The 2019 Annual Performance Report (APR) presents a special evaluation of the GEF’s $501 million sustainable transport portfolio, which includes 80 projects addressing climate change mitigation through low-carbon mobility, planning, and capacity development. The report also reviews the performance of 1,566 completed GEF projects, including 186 projects in the 2019 cohort, and tracks the adoption of GEF Council decisions through the Management Action Record (MAR). Findings draw on validated terminal evaluations submitted between 2018 and 2019, alongside analysis of cofinancing trends, monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems, and portfolio-level sustainability.
The evaluation finds that 78 percent of projects in the 2019 cohort achieved satisfactory outcomes, slightly below the portfolio average, while sustainability ratings at 59 percent show continued need for progress. Implementation and execution quality remain strong, and M&E design ratings improved to 82 percent for the cohort.
For the transport portfolio, GEF support has been most effective in urban contexts, advancing bus rapid transit, nonmotorized transport, and electric mobility, with stronger performance in emerging economies than in smaller states.
The report recommends strengthening monitoring frameworks to capture long-term impacts—particularly greenhouse gas abatement—and prioritizing planning, capacity development, and policy reform, while limiting civil works to pilot or demonstration purposes.
