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Darwin Initiative
Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
The Darwin Initiative is the UK’s flagship international challenge fund for biodiversity conversation and poverty reduction, established at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. The Darwin Initiative is a grant scheme working on projects that aim to slow, halt, or reverse the rates of biodiversity loss and degradation, with associated reductions in multidimensional poverty. To date, the Darwin Initiative has awarded more than £195m to over 1,280 projects in 159 countries to enhance the capability and capacity of national and local stakeholders to deliver biodiversity conservation and multidimensional poverty reduction outcomes in low and middle-income countries. More information at https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/the-darwin-initiative. This page contains information about Rounds 27 onwards. For information about Rounds 1 to 26, please see the Darwin Initiative website -https://www.darwininitiative.org.uk/
Land Degradation Neutrality Fund
Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
The LDN Fund invests in projects which reduce or reverse land degradation and thereby contribute to ‘Land Degradation Neutrality’. The LDN Fund is co-promoted by the Global Mechanism of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and Mirova. It is a public-private partnership using public money to increase private sector investment in sustainable development. The fund invests in sustainable agriculture, forestry and other land uses globally. The Fund was launched at the UNCCD’s COP 13 in China in 2017.
Establishing and enhancing veterinary surveillance of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and use in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)
Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
This project aims to help establish effective surveillance for longer term capacity building for AMR in the terrestrial and aquatic veterinary sectors in selected LMICs, and to enhance veterinary medicines regulatory training.
Ocean Country Partnership Programme
Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
The Ocean Country Partnership Programme (OCPP) supports countries to manage the marine environment more sustainably, including by strengthening marine science expertise, developing science-based policy and management tools and creating educational resources for coastal communities. The programme is funded through official development assistance (ODA) as part of the UK’s £500 million Blue Planet Fund. Through the OCPP, the UK government partners with ODA-eligible countries to deliver positive impacts for coastal communities that depend on healthy marine ecosystems. Bilateral partnerships under the OCPP are primarily delivered by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas), the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) and the Marine Management Organisation (MMO), agencies of the UK government that possess unique expertise in marine science and management. The OCPP also funds two international initiatives that align with its aims and help to develop global public goods, the Global Ocean Accounts Partnership (GOAP) and the Friends of Ocean Action (FOA). GOAP is a global, multi-stakeholder partnership established to enable countries and other stakeholders to effectively measure and manage progress towards sustainable ocean development. FOA is a platform hosted by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with the World Resources Institute, which brings together ocean leaders from a wide range of sectors to encourage action and investment into sustainable ocean projects. GOAP and FOA are both strategic partners of the OCPP, and are funded by the Blue Planet Fund (BPF). They do however remain independent organisations from OCPP, BPF, and Defra. Their work, and its intended outcomes and impacts, are strategically aligned with the OCPP and complement its programming in bilateral partnerships. GOAP and FOA were originally developed as separate business cases under the BPF, then in 2022 introduced as integrated components under OCPP to provide a clearer overall BPF offer to recipient countries. The investment to GOAP supports ODA-eligible countries to develop 'ocean accounts' to more accurately and comprehensively capture data on the natural capital assets contained within their oceans. Using this data - and through further technical, advisory, and capacity building support - GOAP aims to ensure that biodiversity is valued and integrated into policy making, decision making, and infrastructure investments in these countries, resulting in the inclusive and sustainable use and management of the ocean. An initial investment of £1million was awarded to GOAP in FY 2021/2. Following good performance in year one, a further £6million of investment was awarded, split evenly over FY's 2022/3, 23/4, and 24/5; giving a total of £7million. From December 2023, following evidence of strong value for money, this investment has since been uplifted to a total of £14.2million, involving new and expanded scope for certain activities, as well as extending the strategic partnership into FY 2025/6. FOA is a multi-stakeholder platform hosted by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with the World Resources Institute, which brings together ocean leaders from a wide range of sectors to encourage action and investment into sustainable ocean projects. FOA, working closely with the High Level Panel for Sustainable Ocean Economy, aims to mobilise ocean leaders to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 14: Life Below Water. Through OCPP the investment supports pillars of FOA's work that strategically align with OCPP's own outcomes. There was an initial investment of £1million to FOA in FY 2021/2. After FOA performed well against investment and performance criteria in year one, a further investment of £2million was awarded in both FY's 2022/3 and 2023/4; rounding total investment for FOA to £5million.
ORRAA Programme
Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
The Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance (ORRAA) is a multi-sector alliance that aims to drive investment into coastal natural capital through the development of innovative finance solutions. These products will reduce vulnerability and build resilience in the most exposed and vulnerable coastal regions and communities. The UK has committed £13.9 million into ORRAA, delivered in two phases. A successful Phase 1 in 2021-22 provided £1.9m in grant funding, followed by Phase 2 from 2022-2026 with £12m committed in grant funding. The UK’s investment will address 2 challenges faced by coastal communities and the ocean environment: 1) Tackling the impacts of anthropogenic climate change and biodiversity loss. 2) Overcoming barriers that prevent finance flowing into nature-based solutions. The grant awarded to ORRAA will support their aims to drive at least $500 million of investment into coastal and ocean natural capital, and produce at least 50 new, innovative finance products, by 2030. This would positively impact the resilience of 250 million climate vulnerable people in coastal areas worldwide.
Animal Health Systems Strengthening (AHSS) Project
Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
Phase 1 (2022-25) - The aim of the project was to work with responsible authorities in Lower-Middle Income Countries to build resilient health systems by strengthening capabilities in animal health systems, to better protect from, and detect and respond to known and emerging diseases (including those of epidemic and pandemic potential) through a One Health, all-hazards, system strengthening approach, improving livelihoods and enhancing global health security. Phase 2 (from April 2025) - The project will focus on increasing the resilience of the animal health sector against climate change induced shocks, strengthening the competent authorities’ ability to reduce the burden of animal disease associated with climate variability - aiming to improve livelihoods through strengthened livestock assets, particularly amongst the rural poor, reducing loss attributed to disease and climate change vulnerability through stronger animal health systems. AHSS will continue to take a One Health and cross HMG approach to enhance global health security, improve resilience to climate change and support poverty reduction, working in partnership with Department of Health and Social Care, UK Health Security Agency and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office at the human-animal-environmental interface to maximize impact.
Global Programme on Sustainability
Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
The programme supports sustainable economic growth that is both long-lasting and resilient to climate-related stressors. It does this through the integration of natural capital into decision making by governments, the private sector and financial institutions. The inability to value natural capital can undermine long-term growth and critically, the livelihoods of the poorest people dependent on ecosystems for their livelihoods. This programme directly addresses this challenge by (i) investing in data and research on natural capital; (ii) assisting countries to integrate this analysis into government policy making; and (iii) integrating this data and analysis into financial sector decision making.
Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund
Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
Illegal wildlife trade (IWT) is a widespread and lucrative criminal activity causing major global environmental and social harm. The IWT has been estimated to be worth up to £17 billion a year. Nearly 6,000 different species of fauna and flora are impacted, with almost every country in the world playing a role in the illicit trade. The UK government is committed to tackling illegal trade of wildlife products and is a long-standing leader in efforts to eradicate the IWT. Defra manages the Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund, which is a competitive grants scheme with the objective of tackling IWT and, in doing so, contributing to sustainable development in developing countries. Projects funded under the Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund address one, or more, of the following themes: • Developing sustainable livelihoods to benefit people directly affected by IWT, • Strengthening law enforcement, • Ensuring effective legal frameworks, • Reducing demand for IWT products. By 2023 over £51 million has been committed to 157 projects since the Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund was established in 2013. This page contains information about Rounds 7 onwards. For information about Rounds 1 to 6, please see the IWTCF website -https://iwt.challengefund.org.uk/
Developing capacity for storm and lightning early warning for the energy sector in Ghana (EW4Energy)
DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY
Context Climate change is rapidly increasing extreme weather in Africa, threatening lives and livelihoods. Access to electrical power has numerous benefits across society, and the energy sector in Ghana is developing rapidly, but is vulnerable to lightning and storms, and would benefit from warnings tailored to its needs. Addressing the urgent need for improved early warnings in Africa, as recognised by the UN’s Early Warning for All initiative, requires greater capacity in Africa throughout the complete chain, from observations, through predictions to warnings. Numerical Weather Prediction systems developed in the Global North are much less effective in the tropics where the weather is dominated by convective storms, but there is much greater scope for nowcasts (predictions based on observations). Nowcasting in Africa has been held back by a shortage of ground-based radar observations, but AI/ML is revolutionising nowcasting and satellite-based nowcasting has proven effective. Now, for the first time, we have high-frequency satellite observations of lightning, providing a new opportunity for improved nowcasts of storms and lightning. The Challenge There is currently no ground-based lightning observing instrumentation in Ghana, for real-time information for warning, or comparison with satellite data, and limited capacity in the atmospheric physics of lightning-generating storms. Nowcasting is in its infancy in Ghana, with key systems run in the UK, and with no products tailored to the energy sector. There is an under-representation of females within physics, and a shortage of physics skills to provide climate solutions. EW4Energy addresses these challenges. Objectives EW4Energy will deploy the first ground-based lightning observing systems in Ghana, developing technical capacity in developing, building and running sensor networks. Together with ground-based data, it will exploit new space-based lightning observations to provide a new understanding of the physical processes governing the occurrence of lightning in West Africa. Exploiting synergies with ongoing UK projects on storm warning systems for Africa, EW4Energy will use its new physical insights to improve systems for the prediction of storms and lightning, and subsequent warning systems in Ghana. This will have a focus on information for the energy sector but have much wider benefits. EW4Energy builds from strong existing UK-Ghana partnerships, to deliver research and build the capacity of physics ECRs in Ghana, including female ECRs, with a leadership team that will allow an equitable partnership between institutions. Project activities addressing ECRs beyond the project team will deliver much wider capacity development. Applications and Benefits The physical science in EW4Energy will be rapidly translated to societal benefit, both within and outside the project. EW4Energy will work directly with the energy sector to co-produce information and warnings to meet their needs, and develop Ghana’s public storm and lightning warnings. EW4Energy will also work with other ongoing projects to deliver a wider impact at scale. Leeds and UKCEH are already running and developing storm nowcast systems for Africa, with the FASTA phone App used by thousands in Africa. EW4Energy will inform this ongoing development, giving rapid pull-through of EW4Energy’s physics to early warning, with benefits far beyond the energy sector. EW4Energy will transfer these nowcast systems to Ghana, building the essential physics capacity that is needed to innovate, develop and run such systems long-term, training the new generation of male and female physicists that are required to meet the challenge of addressing climate change in Africa.
Sustainable, Holistic and Inclusive Energy Systems for Well-being (SHINE)
DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY
Communities are built around shared resource of commodities. Today, no commodity is more important than energy. Energy access, clean energy and energy cost link multiple Sustainable Development Goals, including climate action, health and gender equality. Communities with clean, cost-effective and reliable energy sources can thrive, supporting education, healthcare and equal gender opportunities. Conversely, communities without clean energy access must rely on labour intensive, dirty fuels for lighting, cooking and heating. These have detrimental impacts on well-being for hundreds of millions of people globally. Energy systems are often designed with linear goals (e.g. number of households connected to a grid) without consideration of just, effective, energy transitions. This marginalises communities: linear goals do not align with community needs, working directly against the Ayrton theme of Inclusive Energy and Leave No One Behind. This proposed research addresses this Ayrton theme, creating a transdisciplinary well-being design framework that considers socio-economic, environmental, health and technological conditions, to improve inclusion and sustainability of energy access interventions. Focussing on The Gambia and Ghana, this research will answer the question: To what extent does the utilisation of a well-being framework act as a driver for sustainable energy system design and enable an inclusive energy transition? Local research institutions MRC Unit The Gambia, University of The Gambia, Mbolo Association, and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana are proposal co-creators and will direct this into relevant Africa-centric research. The following objectives are proposed: Understand success, failure and the well-being impacts of energy interventions by reviewing and mapping previous energy access initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa. Create a holistic well-being framework, utilising transdisciplinary methodologies to transform energy system design (SHINE framework). Pilot the SHINE framework on small-scale energy interventions in energy vulnerable communities in The Gambia and Ghana. Evaluate the usability and outcome of the SHINE framework on overall energy system design. Capacity building and knowledge transfer to local, national, and international stakeholders, to secure scalable, sustainable impact of the SHINE framework. Using a case control methodology, we will pilot the SHINE framework through energy interventions with off-grid communities. Analysis themes of gender and social inclusion; climate; health; policy and economic; and technology will impart the SHINE framework on energy system design. Monitoring, through quantitative and qualitative data collection, will highlight the intervention’s efficacy, scale and performance. The anticipated outcomes of this programme are: Creation of an interdisciplinary well-being framework that drives energy system design for inclusive energy transitions (SDG7.1 7.A). Open datasets (socio-economic, gender and social inclusion variables), reporting energy situations of off-grid communities and the well-being impact of energy interventions (SDG7.1, 7.2, 7.3 7.A). A policy brief, highlighting opportunities of a well-being framework to create an environment for effective, impactful energy interventions (SDG7.B 13.2; 13.B). A technology/knowledge transfer programme to build skills, capacity and capability of stakeholders, local communities and women entrepreneurs (SDG7.A, 13.3, 13.B) SHINE’s impact will enable designers and implementers to incorporate, increase and measure inclusivity, health, sustainability and other multi-dimensional wellbeing impacts. This will provide a clear pathway for just energy transition in The Gambia and Ghana. SHINE will work towards all SDG7 targets, providing a framework for energy service providers to follow, whilst contributing to SDG13 targets for climate action and climate education for adaptation, resilience and reduced impact of changes (13.1,13.3).
ExtraCECI: A cluster randomised controlled trial of community-based person-centred enhanced care for people with HIV/AIDS in Ghana
DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY
MRC AGHRB award to conduct a cluster randomised controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of a community based enhanced care intervention (CECI) to improve quality of life and person-centred outcomes for people living with HIV/AIDS in Ghana.
SFC - GCRF QR funding
DEPARTMENT FOR BUSINESS, ENERGY & INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY
Formula GCRF funding to the Scottish Funding Council to support Scottish higher education institutes (HEIs) to carry out ODA-eligible activities in line with their three-year institutional strategies. ODA research grants do not represent the full economic cost of research and therefore additional funding is provided to Scottish HEIs in proportion to their Research Excellence Grant (REG). In FY19/20 funding was allocated to 18 Scottish higher education institutes to support existing ODA grant funding and small projects. GCRF has now supported more than 800 projects at Scottish institutions, involving over 80 developing country partners.
UUKi Delivery Support
DEPARTMENT FOR BUSINESS, ENERGY & INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY
These are delivery cost for shared learning workshops/training and best practice (for current and future applicants) on ODA assurance, eligibility, reporting and partnership working through either the NF and GCRF
Ad-hoc GCRF activity on BEIS Finance system
DEPARTMENT FOR BUSINESS, ENERGY & INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY
Increased contributions towards a range of research projects jointly funded with DFID, and funding for the Devolved Administrations for disbursement to universities within the devolved regions to fund the full economic cost of GCRF ODA research.
DfE NI - GCRF QR funding
DEPARTMENT FOR BUSINESS, ENERGY & INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY
Grant to Department for the Economy, Northern Ireland to enable Northern Irish higher education institutes to carry out pre-agreed ODA-eligible activities in line with their institutional strategies. For Queen’s University Belfast in FY2019/20 this included: workshops in Cambodia, Vietnam, South Africa, and Uganda about health and education; 11 pilot projects spanning 16 eligible countries (Angola, Burundi, China, Colombia, Ghana, India, Kenya, Kosovo, Malaysia, Nigeria, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Uganda, Vietnam and Zimbabwe); and additional support to GCRF and NF-funded activities. For Ulster University in FY2019/20 funding supported six pump-priming projects on: LMIC maternal, neonatal and child health; PTSD in Rwanda; Decision-Making in Policy Making in Africa and Central Asia; and hearing impairment and dementia in China.
HEFCW - GCRF QR funding
DEPARTMENT FOR BUSINESS, ENERGY & INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY
Additional GCRF funding to the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales to support Welsh higher education institutes (HEIs) to carry out ODA-eligible activities in line with their institutional strategies. ODA research grants do not represent the full economic cost of research and therefore additional funding is provided to Welsh HEIs in line with their research council grant income. In FY19/20 funding was allocated to Aberystwyth University, Bangor University, Cardiff University and Swansea University. In FY19/20, the funding was used to fund: the full economic cost of existing ODA eligible activities (e.g. already funded by GCRF); small ODA-eligible projects; fellowships to ODA-eligible researchers; and to increase collaboration and impact. 53 ODA-eligible countries have been reported as benefiting from the funded work, with Brazil and India the most frequently mentioned. By region, the largest number of projects were based in the LDC’s (Least Developed Countries) in Asia, South America, and East Africa, with only a few projects in the middle-income countries such as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Georgia.
Royal Academy of Engineering Academies Collective Fund: Resilient Futures - Frontiers of Development
DEPARTMENT FOR BUSINESS, ENERGY & INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY
Frontiers of Development is part of the Joint Resilient Futures Initiative which is a collaboration between all four UK Academies under the GCRF. The aim of the JRF initiative is to construct a pipeline in the UK and the developing world for interdisciplinary researchers focused on tackling development challenges in a sustainable manner.
Royal Academy of Engineering Core - Higher Education Partnerships in Sub-Saharan Africa
DEPARTMENT FOR BUSINESS, ENERGY & INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY
The Higher Education Partnerships in sub-Saharan Africa Programme (HEP SSA) – supported by the Anglo American Group Foundation and the UK Government through the Global Challenges Research Fund – was established by the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2016, following the successful pilot scheme, Enriching Engineering Education Programme. COVID-19
Royal Academy of Engineering Core - Engineering a Better World
DEPARTMENT FOR BUSINESS, ENERGY & INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY
Engineering a Better World is a unique programme focused on achieving sustainable development, through innovative, collaborative, challenge-led engineering. COVID-19
Royal Academy of Engineering Core - Frontiers of Engineering for Development
DEPARTMENT FOR BUSINESS, ENERGY & INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY
Frontiers of Engineering for Development is a series of interdisciplinary symposia that facilitates national and international collaboration to tackle global development challenges. The event brings together a select group of around 60 emerging UK and global engineering and international development leaders from industry and academia to discuss pioneering technical work and cutting-edge research for international development from a diversity of engineering fields. Seed funding is available to progress some of the best ideas coming out of the event. COVID-19