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COP 23 Presidency Trust Fund Act 2017

REPUBLIC OF FIJI

COP 23 Presidency Trust Fund Act 2017

ACT NO. 6 OF 2017

I assent.
J. K. KONROTE
President

[14 February 2017]

AN ACT

TO ESTABLISH A TRUST FUND FOR THE FUNDING OF THE STATE’S ROLE AS PRESIDENT OF COP 23 AND TO ASSIST THE GOVERNMENT TO FINANCE PROGRAMMES, PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES THAT RELATE TO THE PARISAGREEMENT AND FOR RELATED MATTERS
ENACTED by the Parliament of the Republic of Fiji—

PART 1— PRELIMINARY

Short title and commencement

1.—(1) This Act may be cited as the COP 23 Presidency Trust Fund Act 2017.

(2) This Act comes into force on the date it is published in the Gazette.

Interpretation

2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—

"Convention" means the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change;
"COP 23" means the twenty-third Conference of the Parties to the Convention;
"COP23 Presidency Office" means the office, agency, department or other body established by the Government to-

• (a) assist the State in its role as President of COP 23;
• (b) prepare and plan for COP 23 and associated events; and
• (c) facilitate any matter necessary or desirable for the State’s Presidency of COP 23;

"Fund" means the COP 23 Presidency Trust Fund established under section 3;
"Minister" means the Minister responsible for finance;
"Ministry" means the Ministry responsible for finance; and
"Paris Agreement" means the Paris Agreement under the Convention.

PART 2—COP 23 PRESIDENCY TRUST FUND

Establishment of the Fund

3.—(1) This section establishes the COP 23 Presidency Trust Fund consisting of—

(a) any amount appropriated by Parliament for the purposes of the Fund;
(b) any grant, contribution or donation to the Fund; and
(c) any interest accrued from money deposited in the Fund.

(2) No part of the Fund may be transferred or assigned to any person other than in accordance with this Act.

(3) The Trustee Act 1966 does not apply to the Fund.

Purposes of the Fund

4. The purposes of the Fund are—

(a) to receive monies from donors, foundations and other States parties to the Convention to finance the performance of the State’s role as President of COP 23;
(b) to disburse the monies received for the performance of the State’s role as President of COP 23;
(c) to ensure the success of the State in its role as President of COP 23, which includes but is not limited to the utilization of the Fund for—

• (i) hosting and attending events associated with COP 23;
• (ii) supporting international diplomacy by the Government to advance the priorities of the COP 23 Presidency;
• (iii) the training and development of the COP 23 Presidency team and COP23 Presidency Office staff; and
• (iv) the provision of a COP 23 Presidency Office and specialist advisors

(d) to provide funding to assist programmes, projects and activities associated with or arising out of the COP 23 Presidency and which may include addressing climate change mitigation and adaptation activities under the Paris Agreement; and
(e) any other climate change related purpose approved by the Minister.

Application of Fund

5.—(1) The Ministry must only expend the monies of the Fund for the purposes provided under section 4.

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), in expending the monies of the Fund, the Ministry may also—

(a) pay for operating expenses of the Fund and the COP23 Presidency Office, including all costs, charges and expenses incidental to the management, operation and activities of the COP23 Presidency Office;
(b) pay for expenses incurred prior to the commencement of this Act; and
(c) reimburse the Government for any expenditure made in relation to the purposes of the Fund.

(3) The permanent secretary of the Ministry must authorise all payments from the Fund.

PART 3—MANAGEMENT AND FINANCIAL PROVISIONS

Procurement

6. Subject to regulations which may be prescribed under this Act, the Procurement Regulations 2010 must be complied with in relation to the utilisation of the Fund.

Accounts and audit

7.—(1) The Ministry must keep accounts and records of transactions of the Fund and its activities and must prepare financial statements and accounts for each financial year.

(2) The accounts of the Fund must be audited annually by an independent auditor who—

(a) is a chartered accountant registered under the Fiji Institute of Accountants Act 1971;
(b) holds a certificate of public practice as required under section 36 of the FijiInstitute of Accountants Act 1971;
(c) is not employed in the civil service; and
(d) is approved by the Minister.

Semi-annual report

8.—(1) The Ministry must prepare a report every 6 months on the activities and Expenditure of the Fund, including financial statements for the Fund, and submit the report to Cabinet within 6 months from the end of the 6-month period to which the report relates.

(2) The Minister must cause a copy of the report to be laid before Parliament at the next sitting of Parliament after Cabinet receives the report.

PART 4—MISCELLANEOUS

Dissolution

9.—(1) The Fund may be dissolved by regulations made by the Minister.

(2) If the Fund is dissolved, the Minister must ensure that the surplus property of the Fund must be utilized for climate change programmes, projects or activities in the Pacific region.

Regulations

10. The Minister may make regulations prescribing matters that are required orpermitted by this Act to be prescribed or are necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to this Act.

Passed by the Parliament of the Republic of Fiji this 9th day of February 2017.