The FFEM was created in 1994 by the French government following the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992.
[1] The French government wished to develop a funding instrument contributing to the protection of the environment, in the framework of the international commitments of France.
The FFEM is also responsible to promote partnerships with research organizations, the private sector, local authorities and NGOs in the context of funding pilot projects.
It meets three times a year in order to decide on the general policy of the Fund, its geographical orientations, its fields of intervention, its methods, its resources as well as the financial commitments to projects.
It is hosted by the French Development Agency (AFD), at its premises located at 5 rue Roland Barthes in Paris.